Where Are We

Despite the Irish No vote last week, Gordon Brown decided to proceed with ratification in the UK. The treaty went through parliament earlier this week and the Bill ratifying it received Royal Assent on Thursday.

But yesterday a High Court judge called on the government to delay formal ratification of the European Union's Lisbon treaty until he has ruled on a legal bid to force a referendum.

The formal act of ratification has not yet taken place. It involves depositing legal papers in Rome.

Lord Justice Richards, who is hearing the case, urged the government to hold off completing ratification until his ruling.



"The court is very surprised that the government apparently proposes to ratify while the claimant's challenge to the decision not to hold a referendum on ratification is before the court," Richards wrote in a letter sent to Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the Foreign Office.
.