The Spectator

Spectator live blog: The Supreme Court’s Brexit hearing, day two

The second day of the Supreme Court hearing has seen the Government continue to put forward its case for why it should be allowed to pull the Article 50 trigger without the say so of Parliament. And Lord Pannick has been arguing why Parliament must give approval for the start of the process of Brexit. Here’s how the day unfolded on our Spectator live blog:

4.30pm: Pannick’s main pitch is about the power of Parliament. He tells the Supreme Court that ‘Parliament is sovereign and only Parliament can remove that which it has incorporated into domestic law’ – meaning that Brexit cannot be started by the Government without the agreement of Parliament. He boils down his argument to a series of main points, including the fact that the 2015 Referendum Act didn’t make any provision for the triggering of Article 50 – meaning that it should be down to Parliament. And that only a law passed by Parliament can revoke rights which were introduced by Britain joining the EU back in 1972.

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