BRITAIN/EU: A "No" vote in a referendum on the European Union Constitution would not sink it, Britain's newly-appointed EU commissioner Mr Peter Mandelson said in an interview published yesterday.
The remarks drew scorn from the Conservatives who are against the constitution and have accused the government of planning to hold repeated votes until it passes.
Asked in a BBC interview what the consequences would be if Britain or France lost a referendum on the constitution, Mr Mandelson said it would spark a major crisis.
But he added: "I don't think it will be insoluble. What it will mean is, we will have to go back, look at the reasons for the rejection, understand why the treaty has not been embraced by the public and address those concerns.
"It doesn't mean abandoning the project." The interview, clips of which were televised on Thursday, appeared in a longer form on the BBC's web site yesterday.
The British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, named Mr Mandelson as European commissioner last month, resurrecting the career of a Europhile and close political ally who had twice been forced to leave government amid scandal.
Mr Mandelson is taking up the powerful trade portfolio in Brussels and has promised to back economic reforms under new Commission President, Mr Jose Manuel Barroso. But his appointment has been criticised by the Conservatives.
Mr Michael Ancram, opposition foreign affairs spokesman, said Mr Mandelson's remarks on the constitution showed he "has wasted no time in returning to his traditional contempt for the democratic views of the British people".
"If as we expect there is a 'no' vote in the referendum, he must accept that that is the end of this wretched and dangerous constitution," Mr Ancram said.
The 25 member-states have to ratify the constitution, which was agreed upon by European leaders in June, for it to take effect. So far, most countries have said they plan to ratify it without a referendum.
Mr Blair, who had long said a referendum was not necessary, reversed his position in April, saying he would hold a vote to engage the constitution's opponents in Britain, a country traditionally sceptical of greater European integration.
Mr Mandelson resigned from the cabinet in 1998 after failing to declare a loan from another minister and in 2001 after allegations he had intervened in two passport applications. He denied any wrongdoing.