Blunkett joins Labour rebellion over EU referendum

The former Home Secretary fuelled a growing Labour rebellion by telling the Prime Minister he still has "a long way to go" before he can deny the public a vote on the new EU treaty.

He surprised MPs - and risked infuriating Downing Street - by offering carefully worded support to those pressing Mr Brown to give way.

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The Prime Minister has steadfastly ruled out a referendum on the EU reform treaty, which replaces the draft constitution that was thrown out by French and Dutch voters in 2005.

But Mr Blunkett said ministers had to do more to persuade sceptics that the revised text agreed by European leaders in June is not the same as its discredited predecesor.

Although he does not explicitly call for a referendum, his intervention is potentially critical.

It provides heavyweight support from the top of the Labour party to a campaign that supporters claim has the backing of at least 40 Labour MPs - and possibly as many as 120.

It is also highly embarrassing for Mr Brown, who is keen to shut down the debate and get the focus of politics back onto domestic issues such as education and health in coming weeks.

Mr Blunkett suggested his party had failed to provide a "proper answer" to explain why the new treaty is sufficiently different from the failed constitution to justify dropping Labour's manifesto pledge of a referendum.

Critics claim the treaties are almost identical, a point agreed by other EU governments which have stressed that the renamed Reform Treaty is the constitution in all but name.

Mr Blunkett said: "The Government has a long way to go in providing a proper answer to the demands for a referendum on the new European Union treaty.

"And Foreign Office ministers still need to give a decisive answer to accusations the treaty is not really any different from the EU constitution that was rejected by the voters of France and Holland."

In a statement last night, he added: "Given the manifesto commitment, it is critical for the Government to demonstrate the difference between the original constitutional treaty and the current treaty - a difference that will have to be demonstrated as the treaty passes through Parliament."

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Mr Blunkett's reference to the battles ahead as the draft treaty is put to the Commons and Lords for approval will be seen as an ominous reminder that the issue could turn into one of the first tests of Mr Brown's authority in both houses.

The Government claims the new treaty has had the constitutional elements such as the national anthem removed.

Foreign Secretary David Miliband claimed this week that it was different in "absolute essence" from the failed constitution.

But Labour MPs continued to add their voices to the growing clamour for a vote.

Former minister Graham Stringer cautioned that "changing some words and puting it in French" could not disguise that it was broadly the same document.

Mr Brown claims the "red lines" set out by the Government were met in negotiations during Tony Blair's last days in office, and that the new treaty does not pose a threat to British interests.

Like its predecessor, the reform treaty would introduce an elected president for the EU Council of Ministers, a new head of EU foreign policy, and the loss of the British veto in at least 40 areas of policy.

Mr Blunkett was not offered a ministerial comeback by Mr Brown, but agreed to lead a policy review on the voluntary sector.