Britain now seems certain to shelve plans to hold its own referendum on the draft EU Constitution, after it was emphatically rejected by the Dutch and the French.

Senior Foreign Office sources said today that Jack Straw will tell MPs on Monday that the Bill paving the way for a UK referendum on the European constitution will be put on hold indefinitely.

The move will anger many of Britain's European partners, who insist that ratification must continue, despite the size of the French and Dutch 'No' votes. President Jacques Chirac of France and Jan Peter Balkenende, the Dutch Prime Minister, are especially keen for the process to carry on, so that their countries do not carry the blame for the failure of the consitution.

Voters in the Netherlands turned out in unexpected numbers yesterday to ensure their nation became the second EU founding member in four days to vote down the treaty after France's emphatic "non" on Sunday. Almost 62 per cent of Dutch voters rejected the document.

As the treaty must be ratified by all 25 member states, the scale of the defeat in the Netherlands is likely to have killed off the vision of an enlarged, more closely-bound Europe with some of the trimmings of statehood, including its own flag, anthem and president.

Instead, European leaders must now find a way of salvaging much of the detail of the treaty without being able to ask French and Dutch voters to change their minds.

Tony Blair has been largely silent on the issue, except to ask for a "period of reflection" during which the fate of the treaty can be discussed. The next EU summit is on June 16, before which national governments will be urgently negotiating behind the scenes to agree on the next steps.

Douglas Alexander, the Minister for Europe, acknowledged this morning that the new constitution was in "serious difficulty". He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: "Certainly, from a British point of view, we are very clear of the need to respect public opinion and respect the results we have seen this week."

Foreign Office sources said that Mr Straw would not take the Bill off the Goverment's legislative agenda, but would delay its second reading, thus delaying any eventual vote.

But this puts the UK on a collision course with the European bureaucracy as well as other member states. José Manuel Barroso, the Commission President, today urged countries not to do anything to damage the treaty - such as calling off their referenda - before the June 16 summit in Brussels.

"I call on political leaders to show they are capable of being responsible, to show prudence," he said. "What I ask for now is that political leaders, in particular the heads of government, take no individual or unilateral decisions."

He was backed by Jean-Claude Juncker, the Prime Minister of Luxembourg which currently chairs the EU, who said that Europe had survived setbacks in the past.

EU leaders must now not only find a legal way out of the constitutional impasse but rethink the entire direction of Europe. While French voters used the referendum to express disapproval of President Chirac's policies at home, the Dutch result displayed disappointment with the EU itself.

Dutch opponents feared that the Netherlands, with a population of just 16 million, risked being swamped in a European superstate run by Brussels and dominated by the major European powers.

Mr Balkenende said that the ratification process should continue, but admitted: "I am extremely disappointed. This is a result you can’t misunderstand. It is clear we have to fully respect this result."

The divisions between sceptical 'old' Europe and enthusiastic 'new' Europe were thrown into focus this morning when Latvia - which became a member of the union last year - recorded a resounding 'ja' in its own parliamentary vote. Seventy-one deputies in the 100-seat parliament voted for the treaty, five against, and six abstained.

So far, nine European parliaments - in Austria, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia - have voted in favour of the constitution. Spanish voters are so far the only ones to have endorsed the text in a referendum.

But Poland and the Czech Republic, two countries that had been planning to hold referendums, both showed signs of wavering today fearing that the 'no' vote would now roll out across the continent.

Anthony Browne, Europe Correspondent of The Times, said today: "The treaty can only progress if France and the Netherlands find a way of overturning their vote. Until then - and this is being quietly expressed by the British Government in particular - it is pointless to continue with the ratification process.

"President Chirac and Prime Minister Balkenende are both urging the other nations to press ahead with the process because neither wants their nation to be seen as the assassin which killed Europe. But this is beginning to look like a case of the emperor's new clothes - everyone can see that the constitution is dead, but no one wants to say so."

The closest any European leader came to suggesting that the constitutional emperor may in fact be naked was Giulio Tremonti, the Italian Deputy Prime Minister, who said: "I think that the European Constitution as it has been presented and managed is finished. After a popular vote such as took place in France and the Netherlands, I see no alternative, technically or politically."

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