[bruinbirdman]

"Why is Brown so coy about a vote?"

The same reason the U.S. doesn't hold national referenda.

I read something about a UK ratification. I guess that would be in the representative parliament.

yitbos

[GreenLanternCorps]

IIRC the United Kingdom does now have legislation in place for referendums.

If this treaty/constitution went before the voters, it would almost certainly lose. That, in effect, would be a vote of no-confidence in the Labour government and might end up triggering a General Election. An election that Labour might, in the wake of an EU referendum, wind up losing.