Nobody should be surprised that Von mcbraun has renaged on the promise , this is completely in keeping with a control freak who would be more at home in stalins USSR than as the prime minster of a supposed democracy. This is too big an issue to leave to politicians with a vested interest in becoming part of european superstate.
If he really believes in democracy which I doubt he should let the people decide and please none of the lies we were told when we join the " Common Market"

J Cox, London, England

Parliament ceased to be representative of the public a long time ago.

Terry Dell, Weybridge, UK

Brown: Parliament not public will decide treaty.
Your headline would be intellectually a lot more honest if you deleted the punctuation and the word Parliament.

philip, Ipswich,

I have not read any comment yet on what is happening in France and the Netherlands.Both these countries rejected the original Constitution in referanda. Is there to be another referendum in each country or have the politicians convinced the electorate that the proposed treaty is a different animal,as Gordon Brown is doing?

Frank Molyneux, Norwich,

I only hope that the pressure continues to mount against this stitch up.

John, tokyo, japan

It makes no difference if the public have a vote or not on this. The EU steamroller keeps on trucking in the direction of a European federation of member states with no place for national sovereignty. If we give the wrong answer, don't worry, we'll be asked again in a few years time to get it right - or better still, don't bother asking in the first place, as who in Europe can kick those who run the EU out of power?
Wake up people! Those who think we can be in Europe without being ruled by unaccountable (to the British electorate) Europeans are in la la land. The only vote worth having is on whether we should be in the EU or not, and I don't see that one coming our way either.

Jon Burgess, Douglas, Isle of Man

This is the man who said that he wanted the people to have more say in goverment was it?

James, London, England

Let Brown decide for Scotland but not for England .Who does he think he is.We must all stick together for once and make a referendum happen. You only have to look at the mans track record to see hes a bully and a loser.Without a referendum even more English people will leave the country. which will not be good for the masses in the long term.

s fisher, london, England

The most galling thing is that if Brown chooses to ignore democracy and his manifesto pledge there is very little anyone can do about it until HE decides he we should be given the chance to express our views via a general election. Even then Labour has rigged the electoral system to allow fraud in its favour.

And this is then passed off as an example of a democratic country to aspiring democracies.

Two foreign EU 'leaders' imposing their own political nightmare vision. Doesn't that qualify us for some kind of NATO led occupation?

Edwin Thornber, Bucharest,

This treaty is a constitution. We were promised a referendum on the constitution.

GS, London,

Funny -I thought Brown said that as Prime Minister he was going to listen and consult with the British people. That didn't last long then, did it!

The British people were consulted at the last election. (Unfortunately) they re-elected Labour, on a manifesto that included a referendum on the European Constitution (which is what this treaty is), plus an assurance that Tony Blair would serve a full third term.

So much for 'trust our politicians.'

Donna Walker, Effingham, Surrey

So an unelected Prime Minister with no mandate from the people to be in office has gone back on a promise his party were elected for (referendum on further involvement in the EU). He is refusing to get permission from the people to run the country and he is refusing to ask permission to sign a treaty which will effect everyone... we do still live in a democracy, don't we? You could have fooled me.

Graeme, Edinburgh,

'Governing' the German way (if not to say: the Merkel way) must be just too alluring and too comfortable. Has Merkel rubbed off on Brown?

A. Schelberg, Germany,

I think the British should have their say in a referendum....BUT the Governement should also "educated" the citizens by clearly saying what the outcome would be......in either way.
Britain seems to be a dissastified member for scores of reasons and it is not in the EU 's interest ( neither the UK's) to do as if all members were willing to go the same way.

If Britain says "YES", then Britain should play its role as a fully integrated member and give up all those opt outs...

If Britain says "NO" and therefore derail the new treaty, then Britain should be ready to withdraw from the EU and negociate a special partnership....

Being a staunch supporter of Turkish membership, I am sure the EU can find something that will both suit Britain and Turkey then....

pascal-pierre, Dinan/france, European Union

What is this man on ? he should be looking at the state of his , sorry ,our, country right now.
Sitting around talking about Africa, saying no to a referendum, & no mention of the growing terrorist problem .
What does he want , international acclaim ?

Get to work Mr Brown & stop posturing & prancing around, your , oh sorry , our, country is in a decaying & troubled state, people are getting restless , even millitant.
We didn't vote you in , but you are supposed to be showing us you are worth the title of Prime Minister.!!

Actually we shouldn't be at all surprised, this is the very attitude we expected, he always treated us the people with disdain.
This is the man who gave pensioners 75p rise in their pension , remember ?

What has he done since being at number 10 ? apart from a number of hot air promises, what has he actually done ?
His suit is smarter & he's been to a football match, what improvements has he made ?
What is he doing to heal our broken , disunited country ?

Maggie Millington, Brittany , France

The Unions and the Tory Party need to get into the real World.The UK is now dominated by European owned companies like ICI ,BENTLEY,ROLLS ROYCE CARS,BMW,JEWSONS, all across every industry.Honda and other Japanese companies have clearly stated they will not invest in the UK should we not be part of the EU.What would the unions then do with millions of unemployed members and the Tories with a ruined economy.
Cameron should come of the fence for once and state his policies on the EU,does he want to be in or out.At least UKIP have made a clear policy statement unlike the scared stiff Tory Party.

Bill Rees, Truro, Cornwall

Of course it will, how could we stupid citizens take such important decisions? After all we might affect all the back pocket lining, non jobs that provide such jollys for retired useless MPs....God forbid. Corruption?.... This Government takes the biscuit.

Judy , Liverpool, england

If you want a referendum write to your MP and demand one. Tell him/her that if they don't oppose this treaty in parliament you will not vote for them again.

Ian, Bristol,

So Labour's election promises were a lie... well, no news there really.

Peter, London,

So after always saying that there would be a referendum on the EU constitution we now know the truth - Brown lies just like the rest of the Labour Party.

Richard Wyld, Effingham, UK

The British public are entitled to vote on this treaty which the Labour party offered as part of its manifesto at the last election.If the Prime Minister is so afraid to put this treaty to the public then it speaks volumes. This treaty is all but the same one which France and Holland said NO to I do not subcribe to not being given the truth and save us from hot air ministers who are simply full of spin.I will be lobbying my MP and asking questions which I hope he has answers to. I do not want to see this country marginalised and led from Europe the cost of EU membership has left businesses bound up in red tape and over legislated I do not want to see more power going to unelected eurocrats. I would like to see a more transparent EU and this treaty will not do that.

Margot Parker, Kettering, UK