Legal bid to force EU referendum fails
Andrew Sparrow and agencies
Wednesday June 25, 2008 
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/25/eu.foreignpolicy

"... in their ruling, the judges said that the constitution and the 
Lisbon treaty were not the same.

And, crucially, they said that even if ministers had promised a 
referendum on the Lisbon treaty, that would be a political promise to be 
enforced by parliament, not the courts."
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Most experts and at least one co-author of the constitution document 
have stated that the Lisbon treaty is substantially the same. Certainly 
it will bring constitutional changes which affect the UK, e.g. 
governance of the EU and so should go before the people in referendum.

In their opinion that parliament could force the government to hold a 
referendum, the judges appear to ignore the reality of whipped 
parliamentary obedience. Presumably, sadly, with regard to public law 
they are correct.  Unlikely, but could it be that their lordships are 
secret reformers who wish to illustrate deficits in our democracy, such 
as an unrepresentative, supine parliament and a lack of the citizens' 
right to push through a referendum (even if the government refuses to 
have one)?

Wallace-Macpherson

I&R ~ GB Citizens' Initiative and Referendum
Campaign for direct democracy in Britain
http://www.iniref.org/