You can call it off any time, say EU judges

EU JUDGES yesterday ruled that Britain can call an immediate halt to Brexit any time before leaving.

In an unprecedented fasttrack ruling, European Court of Justice judges said the UK ‘is free’ to revoke Article 50 – the mechanism for triggering Brexit – without needing approval from other EU member states.

Lawyers for the EU Council and EU Commission had argued that any request to reverse Brexit should be subject to the unanimous approval of the remaining 27 member states.

But Europe’s highest court said giving other EU states a veto over Britain being able to change its mind risked the country being ‘forced to leave the European Union against its will’.

The ruling galvanised Remain MPs who have vowed to vote down any withdrawal deal that Prime Minister Theresa May puts forward in a bid to force a second referendum and stay in the bloc.

But Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt branded the ability to reverse Brexit ‘irrelevant’ as he arrived in Brussels to meet foreign ministers. He added: ‘It’s certainly not the intention of the Government.’

The only condition to reverse Article 50, the judges added, is that it must follow ‘a democratic process’ – meaning either a Commons vote, a general election or referendum.

The ruling had been fasttracked by the European Court of Justice in record time in order to make a ruling ahead of today, the original date for a Commons vote on Mrs May’s deal.