“Remainers”—the campaigners opposed to Britain leaving the European Union—were jubilant Thursday after the nation’s High Court ruled that the process of exiting the bloc cannot begin without the government winning a further vote in parliament.
Prime Minister Theresa May’s government immediately said it would appeal the decision. May had argued that the summer’s referendum, in which the British electorate decided by a margin of 52-48 to leave the EU, negated the need for a further vote in Britain’s House of Commons, and that the now-notorious Article 50, a clause in the EU treaty that begins a two-year exit process, could be triggered without parliamentary approval.
However, in what could prove to be a pivotal decision Thursday, and one which could plunge the U.K. into an unprecedented constitutional crisis, the High Court found that the government cannot simply invoke Article 50 without a further vote in the parliamentary chamber. – READ MORE