UK free to reverse Brexit, says EU’s top lawyer

BRITAIN can reverse Brexit without permission from Brussels, the European Court of Justice’s top legal authority said yesterday.

The declaration from the advocate general on Article 50 threw a grenade into the Brexit debate, buoying pro-EU MPs who want to Remain and angering Leavers.

The timing is a setback for Mrs May with just six days until the vote on her deal.

Anti-Brexit MPs now see voting down her withdrawal agreement in a bid to force a second referendum and stay in the bloc as within reach and a viable option.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable said: ‘It’s a nail in the coffin for May’s strategy. If we get to an impasse and we don’t get a general election or a people’s vote then I think Parliament maybe very strongly tempted to say let’s just stop this disastrous thing and get back to normal.’

But former Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith said: ‘It is provocative. It tells everyone why leaving is vital.’