British tycoon suffers defeat in legal battle over EU referendum

Jun 25, 2008, 10:59 GMT

London - A British multi-millionaire and Conservative Party donor Wednesday lost a legal bid to force the government to hold a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty in Britain.

Stuart Wheeler, a 73-year-old betting millionaire, had argued that the Lisbon Treaty was of essentially the same content as the European Constitution, rejected by France and the Netherlands in 2005.

Therefore, the British government should honour its 2005 promise to hold a referendum, he argued.

But the High Court judges rejected Wheeler's claim that there was a 'legitimate expectation' that a public vote would be held, saying Wheeler's request lacked 'substantive merit and should be dismissed.'

'We have found nothing in the claimant's case to cast doubt on the lawfulness of ratifying the Lisbon Treaty without a referendum,' they said.

The House of Lords, the Upper House of the British Parliament, passed the bill allowing ratification of the treaty in a final reading a week ago.

The Treaty was rejected two weeks ago in a referendum in Ireland, the only EU member state constitutionally obliged to hold a public vote.

Wheeler said he had 'high hopes' of winning an appeal at the Appeal Court in London to challenge Wednesday's ruling, even though the High Court judges refused him permission to appeal, saying they believed such a move would have 'no prospect of success.'

'Whilst the issues raised are interesting and important, that is outweighed by the desirability of certainty and the avoidance of unnecessary delay in this matter,' the judges said.