mark starr

As most of you know by now, Stuart Bower, a UKIP member has issued a summons against Prime Minister Gordon Brown for breaking the implied contract between the Labour Party and the electorate about a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. The case will be heard at 10.30, Thursday, 7th February at Brighton County Court.


Funds, unfortunately, have become the bedrock of the British Judicial system. We are now requesting any donations that you feel you may be able to make in support of his case.

Also, unfortunately again, time is of the essence. All funds will be ring-fenced into a separate account controlled by a UKIP solicitor who is volunteering his time. When it is over, any excess monies will go to UKIP's central funds.



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Or telephone on 0800 587 6 587 to make a credit card donation.

Mikeuk

I would want to know more details of what Mr Bower is doing before considering a donation.

Is he acting as litigant-in-person? If so, what exactly are his costs so far? Possibly not very much, although that may change dramatically depending upon the type of summons he has issued and the remedies he is seeking.

Personally I doubt very much whether any lawyer would advise that a case of this type should be brought in the County Court and this looks to me, at best, like a publicity stunt - not that there is necessarily anything wrong in that.

The spread-betting millionaire Stuart Wheeler is going for judicial review, which must be a more realistic approach to the situation.

Geoffrey Collier

COURT CASE: I have written about this matter to various people and I feel that we are going down a legal cul-de-sac, possibly a very expensive one. UKIP is only happy when giving money to lawyers and that has been a problem since day one.

I am sure that a promise in any election manifesto, can never be more than a declaration of intent. Should it be more than that, a binding contract for example, that contract would take precedent over the doctrine which asserts the Supremacy of Parliament.

As an example, Thatcher said that she would seek the wishes of the Falkland islanders, concerning the future of their governance. They would be given a choice between Britain and the Argentine. She then said, their expressed wish would be paramount in deciding their future. The Constitutional lawyers told her that cannot be the case, for such a promise would challenge the Supremacy of Parliament: the whole matter was overtaken by events and forgotten. No election promise can be contractually binding; sheer nonsense.

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote to Stuart Wheeler's barrister concerning the pending application for a judicial review of the proposed EU Treaty. I feel that is the correct way ahead; Mikeuk is absolutely right. There are many angles which we could explore in order to advance our cause.

Any interference by the EU into our domestic political process, I believe would violate the United Nations Charter which guarantees the right to
national self-determination. Any sanctions, which inhibit a party like UKIP from furthering national independence, would be a violation of that Charter. As a founder member of that organisation and also one of the five Permanent Members, we have compelling duty to the UN which must take precedent over any we have to the EU . There are other avenues we should also travel; no mystery tours, just well mapped routes.

Britannist

Interesting and useful points, Geoffrey .

eublues

Be good if this now gets into national media:

Man Takes Pm To Court Over Eu Lisbon Treaty (from The Argus)

harryaldridge

I think you may be missing some details. I was at a meeting on Monday where Stuart spoke, along with John Bingley a constitutional expert. There are a number of points which actually begin to build up a fairly robust legal case, certainly much stronger than Stuart had previously thought.

Yes the government will fight and attempt to get the judge to throw it out, but I wouldn't be so negative. Stuart has a number of arguments which are quite powerful.

And listing them here, or talking about the case, wont help Stuart if the govt are looking on this forum. So let's just stop the speculation without facts.

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Bluemerle

Stuart Wheeler, one of the wealthiest men in Britain, bankroller of the Conservative Party is also taking Brown to Court and speaking on the Today programme on (I think) Tuesday. He has asked for a judicial review and has been told he has a good chance of getting it. The BBC and the Media have been very quiet on this.

BBC - Radio 4 - Today Programme Listen Again

0721 The PM is refusing to give a referendum on the European Reform Treaty. Sir Stuart Wheeler tells us why he's threatening to take him to court over it.

steve fowler

The BBC and the Media have been very quiet on this.[/quote]

Of course they have, dare not let those who are fighing the EU to be able to stop it!.

chikrodah

That would be John Bingley, self-proclaimed "constitutional expert"/"constitutional and legal researcher"/"constitutionalist"? Judging by his latest publications (google for "John Bingley" "eu|british constitution" and you'll find most of them) the old errors keep cropping up. There's no reference to recent case law, there's no annotation, no footnotes referring to exact sections of the original documents relied upon. There is a lot of reliance on the Magna Carta, Bill of Rights et al being immutable foundations.

I agree with MikeUK. The judicial review's got a much better chance.

mkpdavies

Of course they have, dare not let those who are fighing the EU to be able to stop it!.[/quote]

They will be interested if they lose.

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