Campaigners fight to ‘block will of people’
Attorney General criticises attempt to force Commons vote on Brexit as trying to subvert referendum result
A WEALTHY City investor and antiBrexit campaigner has been accused by the Attorney General of attempting to subvert the democratic will of the British people.
Remain supporters yesterday began court action against Theresa May to prevent her using executive powers under the royal prerogative to start the process of leaving the European Union. Jeremy Wright, the Attorney General, said the legal move launched yesterday by Gina Miller to stop the Prime Minister triggering Article 50 was a “backdoor” attempt to bypass the Brexit vote.
In what has been described as one of the most important constitutional cases in generations, Ms Miller and her fellow anti-Brexit campaigners in the group People’s Challenge argue that the Prime Minister has no power to trigger Article 50 without the prior authorisation of Parliament.
But Ms Miller’s bid produced a withering response from the Government.
Mr Wright said: “The country voted to leave the EU in a referendum approved by Act of Parliament. There must be no attempts to remain inside the EU, no attempts to rejoin it through the back door, and no second referendum. The result should be respected and the Government intends to do just that.”
The Government’s lawyers told the High Court that if the legal challenge mounted by Ms Miller and her supporters succeeded, the Government “could not give effect to the will and decision of the people, as clearly expressed in the referendum, to withdraw from the EU without further primary legislation”.
Mrs Miller, 51, originally trained as a lawyer, but made her name campaigning on behalf of fellow investors against hidden fees and charges levied by in- vestment funds. It was revealed in court that she has received a stream of “abuse, threats and insults” from angry Brexit supporters since the case was launched.
The court was told that if Article 50 was triggered, Ms Miller and others would be deprived of important constitutional rights, such as the right to free movement, free movement of goods, and freedom of services across Europe. Lord Pannick told the three judges – Lord Chief Justice Lord Thomas, Master of the Rolls Sir Terence Etherton and Lord Justice Sales: “The issue in this case is not whether this country should remain a member of the EU, or leave the EU.
“The question is whether the Government may take action unilaterally to notify, or whether it needs parliamentary approval to do so.”
People’s Challenge has raised more than £160,000 to fund its legal costs since it was launched in the wake of the referendum.
It was set up by Grahame Pigney, a British expat who now lives in Carcassonne, France, and Paul Cartwright, 50, a Gibraltarian national who ran the Brex-IN campaign and works as an environmental officer for the British territory’s government.
Mr Pigney, 62, originally from Fareham, Hants, is semi-retired and has lived in the wine-growing region of Carcassonne for 19 years, which left him unable to vote in the referendum.
Defending the legal challenge, he said: “I happen to live in France, but that is inconsequential in the context of the constitutional crisis we are facing.
“What’s at stake is nothing less than Parliamentary sovereignty.
“We need to make sure we do not hand the sovereignty of the UK to a self-appointed Government.”