Essentially we need a new social consensus for economic reform as New Labour has achieved in Britain.

If the constitutional treaty is rejected it will be back to square one, just at a time when we want Europe to be a more effective force for good in the world, when we need to buttress ourselves against the pressures and insecurities of globalization.

I do not share the half-in, half-out attitude to the EU of some in Britain. Britain's place is in Europe.

Of course, the EU is not going to fall apart, but at best it will stagnate for the foreseeable future and we will be dealing with quite a lot of internal chaos.

Firstly, people take for granted that the E.U. has created the biggest economic space in the world.

Europe has to address people's needs directly and reflect their priorities, not our own preoccupations.

The last thing we need is to turn in on ourselves rather than face us up to what we have to do in the world.