UK wants to get on with Brexit job

The ruling of the UK Supreme Court on article 50 is proof that politics and public opinion move far more swiftly than the courts. When the High Court ruled in November that parliament should vote on the formal start of the Brexit process, the decision caused genuine anxiety among many of the millions who voted to Leave.

They feared that a parliament that had long ignored and even scorned their wishes on Europe would thwart Brexit. Such fears have not wholly gone away, since would-be Brexit saboteurs are still numerous in the British parliament.

Yet the political climate has clearly changed. Prime Minister Theresa May has set out a clear and convincing plan for Brexit, a plan widely supported by Leave and Remain voters alike.

Britain is now a country committed to Brexit and wants its leaders to get on with the job. That is the political reality that parliament must acknowledge when the legislation on article 50 is debated.

For all the jubilation of the diehard Remainers at the ruling, this was not a resounding victory for their cause. Eight of the 11 justices found that article 50 can only be triggered by way of an act of parliament.

Three judges dissented. This judicial minority did not think that parliamentary authority was needed and that the executive’s treaty-making prerogative was sufficient and lawful.

However, the majority found that triggering article 50 was an irrevocable act that would have legal impact on the rights of citizens and amounted, therefore, to changing the law.

Since this can only be done by parliament, an act is needed. Yet the legislation to be introduced in the Commons as early as this week simply authorises the government to trigger article 50 by the end of March. London, January 24.