LONDON, June 15 (UPI) -- British Prime Minister Gordon Brown would rather scrap the Lisbon treaty than create a two-tier Europe, observers say.
The treaty aimed at streamlining the European Union failed in Ireland, so Brown would rather see the treaty fail overall than leave some European nations out, The Sunday Times of London reported.
"The legal position on this is very clear: the treaty cannot come into force until all 27 countries have ratified it," an unnamed British government source told the newspaper.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who will take over the rotating European Union presidency next month, dismissed the Irish vote as a "hiccup" that should "not become a political crisis."
Despite calls by some British lawmakers for a delay, the treaty bill will have its third reading vote in the House of Lords on Wednesday.
"We have come so far," said one senior government figure, "there is little point in stopping it now."
