In 2004, Tony Blair offered a referendum on the now defunct Constitution. It was killed by the French and Dutch voters in a referendum in 2005.
The Lisbon Treaty is completely different. It is of less significance than the Single European Act or the Maastricht Treaty, which the Conservative government rightly submitted to Parliament for ratification. The UK has always ratified treaties in Parliament and it would be wrong to betray parliamentary sovereignty on this treaty
I see no loss to the UK from having our ideas, vision and values incorporated in the Lisbon Treaty. The losers are the isolationists, protectionists, UKIP and Conservatives who want to detach the UK from having power and influence in European affairs
Saying ‘No’ to Europe would minimise Britain's economic clout, which is based on trade with Europe. Non-EU member states like Switzerland or Norway have to pay hundreds of millions of Euros to the EU for the right to trade. Their laws have to be in conformity with EU norms. The UK outside the EU would be without influence on the world stage and would be lose all the inward investment that comes here because we are in Europe.