UK Court ruling puts Brexit on hold

In less than a day USA will say "goodbye" to one of the three decent and well educated presidents in the last 66 years.
They being " messirs Eisenhover, Carter and Obama conclude the end of the true leaders of the western world.
The others have been crooks starting with Nixon and inept horsethieves all the way including the Bush 1 and Bush 2.
Now the choice is between another horsethief mick (she was planning on selling her private e-mail server to the national archives for a cool $100 Million but realized the implications) and Trumpf who dropped the F from his surname to hide his kraut background. Given the facts despite his shortcomings he will make a better president 1000 times over the other one. By the way why did all the ugly women who claimed that he had molested them wait 15 years to come forward and how much did they receive from the horsethief camp? Or is he totally blind not to notice that they all looked like the back end of a London bus???
The horsethievery is also extended to the speaker of the Senate who is another horsethief mick (Ryan) who crossed the party lines in support of his mick kin.
Whatever his short comings are, the joint chiefs will support and respect him than a frigid, vindictive and belligerent mick who firmly believes that she knows better than all. One other flow is that with a rich jew dipping into her daughter she will never be free of the control of the bloody minded morons of the kinesset. Anything said and done in the white house will be reported within the half hour to the parasites.
If Americans value their independence from any undesirables they should and they must VOTE FOR TRUMP.
    

So very true ,President Donald J Trump for USA will be the very best outcome for Western countries as corruption and fraud ,removing criminals illegally in USA . NEW WORLD ORDER IS DEAD ,THE IDEOLOGY IS OVER as President Donald J Trump has been studying same for 30+ years and is in full agreement with Nigel Farage UK . The destroying of Europe by EU Bureaucrats has been deplorable and the people are now more aware than ever and wide awake to the evil plans . Without prejudiced I have to say the Koran rules and the Sharia law rules above all countries laws ,making these followers the Anti Christ lawless ,the amount of fighting age men invading Europe is the biggest mistake in World History ,they have no respect for anything except the men followers of Sharia law. It is with regret that the last comment although full of the truth has to be stated ,as everyone has a right to pray or not pray ,individual choice except that the lawlessness ideology will destroy . UK court ruling on BREXIT ,is actually a joke of the disillusioned elite .Politicians are public servants of the UK tax payers ,paid to do a job or they are voted out . UK is leaving the EU ,big world out there to trade with and UK is the very first in the queue to deal with USA ,and the Commonwealth ,we do not need trade with EU ,although as neighbors it would be handy ?? EU business has a lot of negotiations to deal with ,UK is take it or leave it. The £ is controlled by the Elite Bankers ,but if the interest is low we may as well remove our money out of the Banks as they are of no use .Banks can move into the EU from London but the money will not go with it . Time to realize the mistakes made ,wish you well as we leave ,I do love Europe but not the lawless Europe the lovely people deserve better .

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.

The UK’s highest court dealt a blow to Theresa May on Tuesday by ruling the government must hold a parliamentary vote before triggering the EU exit process.

Sample the FT’s top stories for a week
You select the topic, we deliver the news.

Select topic
Enter email address
Enter email address
Invalid email
Sign up By signing up you confirm that you have read and agree to the terms and conditions, cookie policy and privacy policy.
In one of the most important constitutional cases of modern times, the Supreme Court ruled by a majority of 8 to 3 that the prime minister cannot use royal prerogative to trigger Article 50 and start the UK’s two-year exit from the EU. Instead, she must hold a vote of MPs and peers to begin the process by the end of March.

Lord Neuberger, president of the Supreme Court, giving the court’s ruling, said UK domestic law would change as a result of the UK ceasing to be party to the EU treaties and so rights of UK residents would be affected.

“Therefore, when the UK withdraws from the EU treaties a source of UK law will be cut off. Therefore the government cannot trigger Article 50 without parliament authorising that course,” he said. Three of the 11 judges — Lord Reed, Lord Carnwath and Lord Hughes — disagreed.

Lord Neuberger also ruled that on devolution issues, UK ministers were not legally compelled to consult the devolved governments before triggering Article 50. The 11 judges were unanimous on this point.

Podcast
UK government suffers Brexit setback
Theresa May has suffered a setback to her Brexit timetable after the UK Supreme Court upheld a challenge brought by London businesswoman Gina Miller that the prime minister could not trigger an EU exit without the consent of parliament. Sebastian Payne discusses what happens next with Jane Croft, FT legal correspondent, and David Allen Green, legal commentator. Clips courtesy of Reuters
 
This is a positive for the government because putting legislation before parliaments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland under the Sewel Convention — which governs the relationship between Westminster and the devolved governments — could have caused delays and political complications for the prime minister’s March timetable.

Lord Neuberger said: “The Sewel Convention plays an important role in the operation of the UK constitution but the policing of its scope and operations is not a matter for the courts.”

Nicola Sturgeon, Scottish first minister, said the ruling meant it was “increasingly clear” Scotland would have to choose between independence and “increasingly rightwing Westminster government”.

She insisted there was still a “political obligation” for the devolved administrations to be consulted. “Scotland’s voice is simply not being heard or listened to within the UK,” she said.

The government had appealed to the Supreme Court in the hope of overturning a successful legal case brought by businesswoman Gina Miller and hairdresser Deir Dos Santos, who had argued parliament should not be bypassed in triggering Article 50. Both have suffered threats and abuse on social media for bringing the case.

The government argued that Mrs May ought to be able to use the royal prerogative — the residue of powers once held by the monarch — to trigger exit from the EU and that the powers allowed the government to make and unmake international treaties.