British members of parliament on Wednesday rejected proposals to hold a country-wide referendum on whether to ratify the EU's Lisbon Treaty.
The House of Commons rejected the Conservative Party's proposal by 311 votes to 248 votes Wednesday evening following a six-hour debate in the house.
The result means the British Parliament itself will decide whether to ratify the treaty, signed by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and other EU leaders last December.
All EU parliaments must ratify the treaty before it can come into force. The only country which has committed to a referendum is Ireland.
All three of the main British political parties -- Labor Party, Liberal Democratic Party and Conservative Party -- promised a public vote on the EU Constitution in their 2005 general election manifestos. But the constitution was rejected by the French and Dutch electorates later that year and the Lisbon Treaty was drawn up to replace it.
The government and the Liberal Democrats say the treaty does not have constitutional implications, so a referendum on it is not needed.
But the Conservatives, some Labor and Liberal Democrat MPs and the British Independence Party among others, say it is effectively the constitution under a different name so there should be a referendum.
The Lib Dem leadership, which instead wants a referendum on whether Britain should stay within the EU, ordered its MPs to abstain in the Conservative-led debate.
But frontbenchers David Heath, Alistair Carmichael, Tim Farron and Sandra Gidley refused to do so. Carmichael, the party's Scotland and Northern Ireland spokesman, resigned, as did Farron, spokesman on rural affairs.
Source:Xinhua
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