Labor leaders seeking to derail Brexit vowed to stop Brexit and took the case to UK courts.
On November 3, a court ruled “The Secretary of State does not have power under the Crown’s prerogative to give notices to Article 50 of the TEU for the United Kingdom to withdraw from the European Union.”
However, prime minister Theresa May is confident of overturning court ruling U. In a two-pronged approach, the prime minister also says, Parliament Must Accept the Referendum Result and Deliver Brexit.
UK Schism
Bloomberg reports May Steadfast on Brexit Timing as U.K. Schism Deepens.
Theresa May insisted Britain’s exit from the European Union won’t be obstructed by judges or lawmakers as the backlash after last week’s constitutional ruling deepened the country’s political schism. May said her government had a strong legal case to make on appeal.
“While others seek to tie our negotiating hands, the government will get on with the job of delivering the decision of the British people,” the prime minister said in the Sunday Telegraph, her first public remarks since the High Court declared that lawmakers should vote on the start of negotiations with the EU. “MPs and peers who regret the referendum result need to accept what the people decided.”
The ruling on Thursday by a High Court panel provoked the Daily Mail to brand its judges as “enemies of the people,” evidence of an increasingly toxic political climate in which no national institution is considered sacred.
Nigel Farage, the former leader of the pro-Brexit U.K. Independence Party, said on the same program that “the temperature of this is very, very high,” and suggested that the national mood would not tolerate any deviation from the goal of a full break with the EU.
“There is a political and wealthy ruling elite who are not prepared to accept the democratic result of referendums,” he said. “If the people in this country think that they’re going to be cheated, they’re going to be betrayed, then we will see political anger the likes of which none of us in our lifetimes have ever witnessed in this country.”
Parliament Revolt
The Guardian reports Article 50 Ruling Leaves Theresa May Facing Potential MP Revolt.
Theresa May is heading for a rebellion over her Brexit strategy after the high court ruled that the UK could not leave the European union without the permission of the British parliament.
Three senior judges ruled on Thursday that the government could not press ahead with triggering article 50 of the Lisbon treaty, the formal process for beginning Brexit, without first consulting MPs and peers in the Commons and Lords.
Downing Street has said they will challenge the judgment and an appeal with the supreme court is expected to be lodged. But David Davis, the Brexit secretary, acknowledged that the ruling as it stood meant the UK’s departure from the bloc would require the consent of both MPs and peers through an act of parliament.
The Guardian understands that a cross-party group of Tory and Labour MPs met this Thursday afternoon to discuss how the ruling could be used to force May to reveal more about her broad negotiating aims.
The unanimous judgment delivered by three of the most senior judges in England and Wales will make it difficult for government lawyers to overturn the ruling in the supreme court and avoid delay.
The judgment ruled: “The most fundamental rule of the UK constitution is that parliament is sovereign and can make and unmake any law it chooses … By making and unmaking treaties the crown [ie the government] creates legal effects on the plane of international law, but in doing so it does not and cannot change domestic law. It cannot without the intervention of parliament confer rights on individuals or deprive individuals of rights.”
Brexit on Track
The Guardian reports Brexit Timetable Still on Track Despite Article 50 Ruling, Theresa May to Tell EU.
Theresa May is expected to tell the president of the European commission that her timetable for Brexit is still on track despite Thursday’s ruling in the high court, although a leading Conservative peer has called for a delay.
The prime minister is due to telephone Jean-Claude Juncker to say she still plans to trigger article 50 by the end of March, notwithstanding the court ruling that parliament must vote on when the process can begin.
On Friday the Welsh assembly announced that it would seek permission to intervene in any government appeal against the ruling, further complicating the Brexit process.
The Westminster government has said it will challenge the judgment in an appeal expected next month, but some senior Tories have welcomed the ruling as a boost to parliamentary sovereignty.
Announcing the Welsh government’s involvement, Mick Antoniw, an assembly member and counsel general for Wales, said he would raise concerns about May’s attempt to use royal prerogative powers to trigger Brexit.
Welsh representations consider the impact on “the legislative competence of the national assembly for Wales, the powers of Welsh ministers, the legal and constitutional relationships of the assembly to parliament and the social and economic impact on Wales”. The Scottish government is also considering whether to join in the case.
The Conservative peer Patience Wheatcroft told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme it would be impossible to trigger article 50 by the end of March.
Lady Wheatcroft said: “I think it is only right to delay triggering article 50 until we have a clearer idea of what it actually entails. And I think there will be others in the Lords who feel the same way. How many I think it is hard to say, but I think there could be a majority who would be in favour of delaying article 50 until we know a little more about what lies ahead.”
Jesse Norman, a junior minister in the Department of Industry, appeared to welcome the ruling, tweeting that it was “a reminder that we live in parliamentary and not a popular democracy”.
Impossible Demand
Lady Wheatcroft’s demand is impossible. There will never be a time anyone knows “what lies ahead” given animosity in the EU including vows of revenge, punishment, and inferior deals.
Meanwhile, I offer congratulations to Theresa May.
Mike “Mish” Shedlock.
