Brown stands firm on EU treaty vote

Speaking after talks at Downing Street with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, he said Parliament was the place to debate the issue, not the country at large.

His insistence came after the GMB union announced that it would table a motion at next month's TUC Congress, demanding a public vote.

He said he was confident the Government would secure all its objectives for the new treaty, which critics say is almost identical to the abandoned constitution.

He told reporters: "Let's see what the TUC do. My own view is that the TUC when it meets will support the Government.

"We believe the proper way to discuss this is through detailed discussion in the House of Commons and the House of Lords and I believe Parliament will pass the legislation."

The two leaders also talked about recent turmoil on the international money markets, with the Prime Minister insisting that "the fundamentals of our economies are strong".

Asked if he would bow to the mounting pressure for a referendum, he said: "I have been very clear throughout that if we can achieve, as we have done so far, our negotiating objectives then I believe the proper way of considering this is through detailed consideration in Parliament itself.

"We are determined that when the detail of the amending treaty becomes available and when the discussions of the Intergovernmental Conference happen, that we will achieve in detail all these negotiating objectives that we believe are guaranteed by the signatories in the European Council a few weeks ago."

The Rail Maritime and Transport Union is reported to have gone even further than the GMB with a motion urging the TUC to campaign for a "no" vote on the Brussels treaty agreed by Tony Blair shortly before standing down as Prime Minister.