(Bloomberg) -- U.K. lawmakers ratified the European Union's new governing treaty, sparking opposition claims that Britain is trying to pressure Ireland into holding a new referendum. The Lisbon treaty bill cleared its final reading in the House of Lords, meaning it passes into law. The upper chamber of Parliament also rejected by 33 votes a motion to delay ratification until later this year. The decision means that 19 of the EU's 27 countries have cleared the treaty, which is intended to streamline how the bloc is run and would establish a European president and foreign minister. Irish voters rejected the agreement in a referendum last week. With the British among the most hostile to the treaty, the opposition Conservative Party accused the government of trying to ``bully'' Ireland into rerunning the ballot.
``By closing off our options this afternoon, we help those who wish to do so put pressure on Ireland,'' Lord Charles Leach, whose Conservative Party had urged the government to declare the treaty dead after the Irish rejection, said during debate today.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown travels to Brussels tomorrow to discuss the future of the treaty with other EU leaders.
While the Lords' vote is a technical victory for Brown, it pits him against public opinion, which is skeptical both of the treaty and the EU in general. Only 14 percent of British voters agreed with the statement that ``the government should carry on and ratify the Lisbon Treaty,'' according to a poll by YouGov Plc published yesterday.