GOVERNMENT ADMITS: “OUR MANIFESTO PROMISES ARE NOT BINDING”

This was the astonishing defence proffered by the Government in an action brought against it by UKIP parliamentary candidate Stuart Bowers in February in the Brighton County Court.

Mr Bower’s case was that Labour's manifesto in 2005 had created a "legitimate expectation" of a public vote. The government had usurped the Crown's authority by signing the Lisbon Treaty, raising fundamental constitutional questions.

"The effect of the Lisbon Treaty is to transfer governance of this country to a body that does not owe allegiance to the Monarch and is not accountable to the people of this country."

The following words were uttered by the Government’s barrister: "A manifesto promise is incapable of giving rise to a legally binding contract with the electorate and they cannot be expected to honour it. It is a point which is so obvious that I don't want to labour it."