MPs are now debating the government’s European Union (notification of withdrawal) Bill, with a warning from Theresa May and Brexit Secretary David Davis that to try to block the legislation would be to thwart the will of the British people. The Prime Minister said last night that ‘I hope when people look at the Article 50 bill they will recognise that it is a very simple decision – do they support the will of the British people or not’, while Davis will ask MPs whether they ‘trust the people or not’ as he opens the Second Reading stage of the Bill.
There is a funny symmetry here between the bill that enabled the referendum in the first place, and this legislation which starts to enact the result of that referendum. David Cameron did not want a referendum, and then when he decided that he really did have to hold one, he stalled on introducing the bill.
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