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(LONDON) – Theresa May does not have the power to give notice to withdraw from EU membership without consulting Parliament, the High Court ruled Thursday, arousing the anger of Britain’s anti-EU politicians.
“The United Kingdom could be heading for a ‘half-Brexit’ from the European Union”, the former leader of the currently leaderless anti-EU UKIP party Nigel Farage told BBC radio this morning.
Mr Farage said he was worried that Brexit would be watered down by the High Court ruling. If the vote was put to Parliament, the government “would lose”, he added.
The question before the judges was whether the Theresa May’s British government was entitled to give notice of a decision to leave the European Union under the EU Treaty’s Article 50 without reference to Parliament.
The process of withdrawal is under Article 50, once a Member State gives notice to withdraw there is a two-year period in which to negotiate a withdrawal agreement.
While accepting that the question of whether or not to leave the EU was a political one alone, the Court decided that the government cannot trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty – which would mark the beginning of formal discussions with the EU – on its own.
The Court found no justification for the government to exercise the Crown’s prerogative powers and by-pass parliament, as “the most fundamental rule of the UK’s constitution is that Parliament is sovereign”. Giving notice under Article 50 would have the effect of changing domestic law, said the Court.
The Court also made clear that the June referendum could only be “advisory” unless “very clear language to the contrary” had been used in the referendum legislation in question.
Britain’s ‘Leave’ campaign reacted angrily to the ruling. Arron Banks, the main donor to UKIP, who had warned yesterday that the party could be “about to die”, announced that the Leave campaign was now back “in full campaigning mode … They didn’t get the answer they wanted, and now they’re going to use every dirty trick in the book to try to sabotage, delay or water down Brexit,” he said.
The government has announced its intention to appeal, and a further hearing is expected next month.
The European Commission said its president Juncker would be speaking on the phone with British prime minister Theresa May tomorrow morning, at the instigation of Mrs May.
Judgment: R (Miller) -V- Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union
