PAPER: SECRET PLAN AFOOT FOR EUROPEAN SUPER STATE

GEOFF MARSH, DAILY EXPRESS, UK - Tony Blair wants to hand the European Union radical new powers in his last act as Prime Minister, it emerged today. The Prime Minister has welcomed controversial plans to bring back the troubled EU constitution by the back door - totally bypassing the need for public referendums on sweeping new powers for Brussels.

German chancellor Angela Merkel has suggested ditching the name "constitution" from the title and instead calling it an "amending treaty" - to avoid having to seek the approval of voters. French and Dutch voters rejected the original plan - which would hand Brussels the power to represent individual countries at the UN and change national laws - two years ago. . .

Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague said: "If Tony Blair thinks he can hoodwink the British people by smuggling in the rejected EU consitution under another name, he had better think again. He underestimates the British people. They will see right through any shabby stitch-up. . .

EU leaders gather in Brussels next Thursday, prepared to launch "an intergovernmental conference" on the details of a new treaty if they can agree the outline.

Neil O'Brien, director of the think-tank Open Europe, expressed surprise that a "single legal personality" for the EU was still being considered. It was an unpopular move already flatly rejected by the UK and would not, he predicted, survive in any final deal.