British Prime Minister Tony Blair is planning a major policy U-turn by agreeing to hold a referendum on whether the country signs up to a new EU constitution, reports said Sunday.
Blair, who has previously ruled out any poll on the issue as unnecessary, will seek approval from his cabinet of senior ministers for the change of heart later this week, the Sunday Telegraph reported.
Speculation that the increasingly embattled Blair could be considering what would be a major political gamble picked up on Saturday after he failed to categorically rule out a referendum when asked about it during an interview.
"Our policy has not changed and if there is any question of it changing I can assure you we will tell you," he told the BBC, adding: "You will have to wait and see what occurs on any of this."
Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott would only say Sunday that Blair was "listening to the argument" over whether a poll should be held. Prescott told the BBC: "We do consult the people where we think it is justified and necessary.
"The prime minister has said he is listening to the argument that is going on. Now that debate will continue and he will let you know in his time, as he said, whether there is any change in policy."
Blair has faced a strong campaign by EU-wary British newspapers to allow the public a say on the constitution, which is intended to make the bloc more easily governable after it expands to 25 members on May 1.
The prime minister has long insisted that the constitution will have minimal effect on Britain. Any referendum would be very risky given opinion poll findings showing widespread scepticism about the EU among British voters.
The Sunday Telegraph reported that senior ministers believed Blair had shifted his position partly because of fears that in the run-up to the European parliament elections in June, the opposition Conservative party would make political capital out of his reluctance to hold a ballot. According to the unnamed ministers, Blair has gradually been persuaded that the pressure for a vote is unstoppable.
Sunday's Observer newspaper reported that Blair had decided a referendum would probably be held in around three years, assuming his Labour Party won the next general election, due by mid-2006 at the latest but expected sooner.
The Independent on Sunday was more cautious, reporting that Blair had told colleagues he would make a decision next week on whether to hold a referendum.
Reacting to an earlier welter of speculation that Blair was considering a ballot, a spokeswoman for Blair said Thursday: "Our consistent position has been 'no' to a referendum on Europe."
The eurosceptic Sun tabloid has reported that seven heavyweights in Blair's ruling Labour party were "lining up" behind a ballot, including Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown and Foreign Secretary Jack Straw.
EU leaders, Blair among them, agreed at their March summit in Brussels to try to reach a final agreement on the constitution by June, after they spectacularly failed to do so last December.
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