The EU and a UK referendum on the Constitutional Treaty

According to this Guardian article, 'government sources' are now admitting they might shelve a referendum in the UK if France votes 'no' in its referendum at the end of May. Of course I'm pretty pro-EU, less-certainly positive about the constitutional treaty, but this pusillanimity on the part of this NuLabour government is just the latest sign of how unfit they are for office. The point of having a referendum is, or should be, to ascertain the views of the public as a whole on a specific matter, not to advance partisan views, but such democratic concepts are obviously quite alien to our present government. We certainly need a referendum, irrespective of what the French might decide, then we all need to get on and accept the outcome, whatever it is.