Brown insists it's up to the Irish to resolve turmoil created by their 'no' vote

The new European constitution was limping on tonight after Gordon Brown refused to kill it off.

A crisis summit in Brussels this week is likely to reprieve the document  -  which had been repackaged as the Lisbon Treaty  -  despite a decisive 'No' vote in Ireland that should have stopped it in its tracks.

Mr Brown and David Miliband said EU rules which require all 27 member countries to endorse a treaty should be respected.

But, despite numerous hints that he would be happy to see it fail, the Prime Minister stopped short of saying in public that he wants the Lisbon Treaty to be junked.

Instead, he left the door open to a fudge by insisting it was up to Ireland to come up with a way out of the turmoil that has rocked Brussels.

Mr Brown is anxious not to alienate EU powerhouses France and Germany, both of which are determined to ram the Treaty through.

The EU has made it clear it does not plan to abide by its own rules and is now putting intense pressure on Ireland's government to come up with some sort of solution to the problem Irish voters dumped on Brussels last week.

EU foreign ministers, meeting in Luxembourg today, agreed to keep the Treaty alive by allowing Ireland 'breathing room' to consider its position.

Slovenian foreign minister Dimitrij Rupel, who chaired the talks, insisted the EU was not in crisis.

No vote: Celebrations last week after the Lisbon Treaty referendum in Dublin

He summed up the overwhelming determination to push through the treaty in defiance of the Irish vote by saying: 'We shall overcome. I am convinced that sooner or later these reforms will see the light of day.'

The EU leaders' summit that opens in Brussels on Thursday is likely to put off a decision on what happens to the treaty at least until the end of the year.

Mr Brown said today: 'The legal position on the European treaty is very clear: that all 27 members must sign and ratify the treaty before it comes into force.'

However, he then put the burden on Ireland, adding: 'A short period of reflection is necessary for the Irish to put forward their proposals for how to deal with this.

'We look forward to the Irish coming to the European Council on Thursday with a view of what should be done.'

The Tories called on Mr Brown to declare the Treaty dead and urged him to suspend British ratification.

Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague told MPs: 'Shouldn't this Government show some true leadership in Europe and state plainly and sincerely that Britain will suspend ratification in this country immediately.'

He also said Mr Brown should 'give a clear message at Thursday's summit that this treaty is finished, and make the fundamental point that no lasting political institution can be built in democratic societies without the peoples' consent'.

Mr Miliband told the House: 'We should respond in a calm way, in a respectful way, in a way which gives the Irish Government space.'

The Foreign Secretary defended the Government's decision to press on with ratification of the treaty, which completes its passage through the Lords tomorrow.

But he added: 'There will be no bulldozing of the Irish Government or of the Irish people. It's important that the Irish government are able to find their own way.'

Thursday's 'no' vote in Ireland has caused chaos across the EU by striking a potential death blow to the successor to the failed European constitution.

The Lisbon Treaty was agreed last year as a substitute to the constitution after that, the blueprint for a superstate, was rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005.

It is supposed to help cope with the expansion of the EU to 27 members by streamlining its procedures, but it also introduces a new permanent, unelected president and scraps the British veto in dozens of areas.