Party is over for Goldsmith

Sir James Goldsmith's Europe-wide party collapsed yesterday in a setback for his campaign against the constitution of the European Union.

Sir James, a French MEP, led the Europe of Nations group in the European Parliament. It had to dissolve after Anne-Christine Poisson, another French member, defected, reducing thegroup to 17; it needed 18 to qualify as an official group, entitled to office space, speaking time and committee seats.

The folding of the group is an embarrassment to Sir James, who has pledged to spend up to pounds 20m fielding candidates in the British general election, with the single demand for a referendum on EU membership.

This week he repeated his determination to match the spending of the two main parties in the election.

But inquiries about the "family charitable trust" which he said would pay for the campaign produced little information.

Sir James's lawyers confirmed to The Independent that the Goldsmith Foundation for European Affairs is a "private charitable foundation established overseas", adding that, "as such, it does not have any UK charitable status". A British charity would be unable to fund political activity.