LONDON -- Prime Minister John Major threatened Thursday that he and his government would resign and call new elections if they were defeated in a crucial parliamentary vote next Monday on the European Union budget.


After consulting with cabinet members, Major issued a statement saying they agreed to stand or fall together in what has been labeled a "suicide pact."


"If the government were defeated, the government would resign and the Prime Minister would ask the queen to dissolve parliament," the statement said.


The threat added spice to a high-stakes game of political poker pitting Major against a stubborn group of anti-Brussels "Euro-skeptics" in his own Conservative Party.


The rebels are threatening to vote against Major, who has a slender majority of 14 in the 651-seat House of Commons, rather than agree to boost Britain's contributions to the EU budget.


One of the rebels, Bill Cash, said at least 15 fellow Conservatives would support an amendment to the bill refusing to provide the extra cash until the EU cracks down on fraud. "I know that a significant number of people are going to support it. I know that it is 15 and it could be more," Cash told BBC radio.