Gisela Stuart, British Labour MP and presidium member in the Convention, has declared this week that the draft constitution should not be adopted as presented to the IGC.

It does not improve the EU, she says, and it was not drafted in a suitably democratic manner. Nobody should be afraid of the failure of the constitution proposal, because enlargement of the EU can go on under the terms of the Nice treaty.

British foreign minister Jack Straw floated similar comments to the British press last week. These are the hallmarks of an oncoming negotiation: each player has to give the impression of toughness and determination. That is only to be expected.

But what will happen if Britain tries to say no? Let's look at history.

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