Supreme Court starts hearing appeal on parliamentary Brexit powers

The British Supreme Court has started hearing an appeal filed by the government, that seeks to overturn a High court ruling that MPs need to give the go ahead for Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty to be triggered, and for Britain’s exit from the EU to be officially set in motion.

The appeal comes amid a backdrop of protests and accusations, by the ‘Remain’ camp, that those in the ‘Leave’ camp misled the electorate using false claims during the campaign.

The president of the Supreme Court said at the start of the case that the landmark case was a matter of law and not politics.

If the court upholds the decision, it would prove problematic for Prime Minister Theresa May, who has said that the government wants to have to trigger the exit clause by the end of March.

If the government loses, parliament could in theory block Brexit since a majority of MPs were against leaving the European Union.

Attorney General Jeremy Wright said that the government’s appeal was in no way undermining parliamentary sovereignty and that the government would be making lawful use of its power by triggering Article 50.

The hearing is expected to last four days, with a verdict not due till January. In June, the UK voted to leave the EU, with the ‘Leave’ camp winning by a margin of 3.8%