Caroline Lucas MP has responded to the High Court ruling that the Government does not have power to trigger Article 50 without a vote in Parliament.
Lucas, Green Party co-leader, said:
We welcome this ruling which shows that Ministers do not have the power to trigger Article 50 without consulting Parliament.
Parliament must have the opportunity to debate and vote on triggering Article 50, rather than a group of Ministers at the top table having total control over this country’s future place in the world.
The Green Party will continue to fight to protect free movement, workers’ rights and the vital environmental protections we currently have as part of the EU.
I cannot understand why the Government does not simply accept the Court's judgement on this issue, and get on with a short and simple Bill seeking Parliament's approval to trigger Article 50.
ReplyDeleteAlthough this was a High Court case, it was not considered and decided by a single High Court Judge, but by three of the most senior Appeal Court Judges, including the Lord Chief Justice and the Master of the Rolls. They had to adjudicate on points of Constitutional law (not affected by "Brexit" or "Remain" political issues), and their judgement was clearly correct, and will not be overturned by the Supreme Court.
Rather than criticising the Judges for making the correct ruling, in law, we should be grateful that the Courts will help to protect citizens from bad decisions by Government ministers. They have upheld Judicial Review requests against a number of Tory ministers since 2010, stopping them from pushing through irrational decisions and abusing their power.
Philip.