Tony Blair has warned of a "battle between reality and myth" over the EU constitution.

The Prime Minister conceded he faced a tough fight to sell the constitution to a sceptical British public in a referendum.

But he insisted voters would be won round once they were told the truth about the deal.

However, the Tories branded the constitution, thrashed out in Brussels on Friday night as "a gateway to a country called Europe".

And talk-show host-turned-UK Independence Party Euro MP Robert Kilroy-Silk likened Mr Blair to Neville Chamberlain - Britain's prime minister at the start of the Second World War - and his appeasement of Hitler.

Mr Blair took to the TV after flying back from Brussels with a deal he said was a success for Britain and Europe.

The 300-page document still needs to be approved by all 25 national parliaments, and by referenda in at least six member states, including Britain.

Mr Blair is facing one of the toughest tasks of his premiership in attempting to win the referendum.

Opponents have challenged him to call the poll immediately. He refused to do that today but signalled MPs could vote on the constitution before the next General Election.

He stressed he had secured all his "red lines" in Brussels over the key areas that made Britain a nation state.

And he dismissed Tory plans to renegotiate EU treaties as "the door next to the exit door".

Mr Blair accepted opinion polls indicated opposition to the constitution but that was because the public had not been told the truth about it.

"This is going to be a fascinating political battle because it will be a battle between reality and myth," he said.

"If you actually have a debate about the reality then people will say 'well what's wrong with that? Why aren't we being part of that'?"

He said the Tories and UKIP wanted the referendum now because they feared the longer the debate went on the more their myths would be exposed.

Monday June 21, 2004