- Title: UK Supreme Court says PM May must get parliament approval to trigger Brexit
- Date: 24th January 2017
- Summary: LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM (JANUARY 24, 2017) (REUTERS) MEDIA OUTSIDE COURT
- Embargoed: 7th February 2017 09:35
- Keywords: Miller Brexit Article 50 United Kingdom Theresa May parliament Supreme Court
- Location: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
- City: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA00460FWY87
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The UK Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday (January 24) that Prime Minister Theresa May must get parliament's approval before she begins Britain's formal exit from the European Union.
The UK's highest judicial body dismissed the government's argument that May could simply use executive powers known as "royal prerogative" to invoke Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty and begin two years of divorce talks.
Challengers, led by investment manager Gina Miller and backed by the Scottish government and others, say under Britain's unwritten constitution May must first get lawmakers' approval as leaving the EU will strip Britons of rights they were granted by parliament.
That view was backed by London's High Court, prompting the government to appeal to the Supreme Court, the highest judicial body in the land.
Last week, May set out her stall for negotiations, promising a clean break with the world's largest trading block as part of a 12-point plan to focus on global free trade deals, setting a course for a so-called "hard Brexit".
Some investors and those who backed the "remain" campaign hope that lawmakers, most of whom wanted to stay in the EU, will force May to seek a deal which prioritises access to the European single market of 500 million people, or potentially even block Brexit altogether. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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