Earlier this week in the news, we found out that government lawyers have admitted in court documents that the Government formally recognises MPs can direct it to revoke the Article 50 notice. This is significant, because until now, we thought the only options Parliament has in the forthcoming weeks is to vote for Theresa May’s deal, vote to hold a General Election or to hold a referendum or to do nothing and allow the country to crash out. Now we know that Parliament can simply step back from the abyss by voting to direct the Government to stop Brexit in its tracks.
The court documents came to light as a result of the government’s failed bid to stop a case reaching the European Court of Justice. That case, brought by the Good Law Project, headed by Jolyon Maugham QC following a crowd-funding campaign, was heard on Tuesday. It looks at if the UK government can unilaterally revoke Article 50 before the March 29 deadline, or whether they would need the agreement of the 27 remaining member states, which may come with strings attached. While we won’t know the final decision until some time in December, the good news is that the EU Council and EU Commission have formally agreed Article 50 is revocable, which is a huge first step.
It’s important you let your MP know this, and make sure they know it’s not too late to Remain. You can find a template letter to send to your MP here.