The prime minister yesterday kicked off his bid to win British support for the new EU constitution.

Tony Blair told the BBC that the referendum campaign will be a "battle between reality and myth".

He will today confront Conservative calls for an early poll when he makes a Commons statement on last week's Brussels summit.

Blair said the opposition wants a quick campaign because "the longer the debate goes on, the more this myth will be exposed".

Tory leader Michael Howard will tell MPs that the government has negotiated British sovereignty away.

But the UK Independence Party yesterday appeared to rule out the prospect of an electoral pact with the Tories.

Meanwhile Britain is thought to be ready to veto French foreign minister Michel Barnier's bid to become president of the European Commission, having already scuppered the chances of Belgian prime minister Guy Verhofstadt.