Blair needs support to handle rejection

Senior British government figures have drawn two conclusions from France's outright rejection of the European constitution in its referendum, 29 May 2005. First, they believe that if the Netherlands follows France and votes No to the treaty on 1 June 2005 then the constitution is, in effect, dead - and there is no point continuing with the ratification process across the European Union, including the holding of a referendum in the UK. The second conclusion is that France's No must be the launch pad for discussion of Europe's economic future.