OH, it must have been the ultimate indignity for the leaders of Britain, France and Germany - a pet project blown right out of the water by the people of Europe.

Bitter recriminations followed. Was there any point continuing with the programme? Should it be scrapped and revived in a new form? Could the little people really be trusted to vote on a matter of such significance?

Yes, when the three nations' sputtered into the last three places in the Eurovision Song Contest it was, frankly, difficult to see how their humiliation could get any worse.

But it could. And it did.

On Sunday night, the people of France delivered a resounding blow to the proposed European Constitution, with 55 per cent saying 'Non'.

And then on Wednesday, people in the Netherlands hammered another nail into the draft treaty's coffin, with 61 per cent rejecting it despite the Government frantically appealing for them to vote 'Yes'.

The 'No' vote means that one of the key aims of the new constitution has failed in spectacular fashion: bringing the EU closer to its public.

Europe's Big Three - Tony Blair, Jacques Chirac and Gerhard Schroeder - wanted to write themselves a chapter in the history books by creating a European "super-state". It would, they claimed, streamline the EU's institutions following the admission of ten new members last year and allow Europe to compete more effectively with the US and Far East.

But concerns about the effect of EU expansion on national economies, a feeling the EU meddles in too many national affairs and dissatisfaction with national governments sparked the shock 'No' vote.

Luxembourg's Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, the current EU president, was gloomy. "This is a dangerous position to be in," he said. But he insisted other EU members should go ahead with their referenda.

There may be sharp differences of view here: the UK, which takes over the EU presidency at the end of June, is likely to want to declare the constitution dead in the water.

Blair - always one with an eye for the main chance - could yet benefit from the crisis engulfing the proposed constitution. He is almost certain to use the French 'Non' and Dutch 'Nee' to get off the hook of his own referendum, due in 2006.

Blair did not want a referendum in the first place.

He knows Britain's voters are not naturally pre-disposed to Europe to the same extent as our continental neighbours.

Indeed, there is a nagging distrust of the French, Germans, et al, and even more suspicion of the faceless, bureaucratic monolith that is the European Union.

Britain was not one of the six founder members of the European Economic Community, formed in 1957. It only joined the EEC in 1973 when Edward Heath signed the Treaty of Rome.

Interestingly, artful Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has been looking pleased with himself these past few days now a referendum is almost certainly off.

A referendum would have provided a neat cut-off point for Blair's leadership.

He could have either quit having taken the historic step of securing Britain's place at the helm of a new European super-power, or resign having failed to persuade the public to vote 'Yes'.

Either way, there would have been a painless handover of the crown to Gordon Brown.

Now, without the prospect of an unhelpful and self-defeating referendum on the horizon, Mr Blair could begin to plan remaining in Downing Street - maybe even challenging Margaret Thatcher's 11-year record.

The Chancellor's back-bench fan club would be distinctly unhappy. But upsetting the 'awkward squad' has never before bothered Blair.

Updated: 09:03 Friday, June 03, 2005