Well, you couldn’t make it up. At the heart of the Brexit vote was the issue of sovereignty and the supremacy of Parliament (“we don’t want to be ruled by faceless bureaucrats in Europe blah, blah blah”) and yet when three judges ruled that our politicians must scrutinise and authorise the triggering of article 50, all hell breaks loose.
Leading figures from the Leave campaign are raging at anyone who will listen at the temerity of our Parliament wanting to make decisions that affect our future.
In the months leading up to the referendum they argued fiercely that they would “take back control” of our laws, but now appear to have a problem with that very notion. Their reactions against the ruling are farcical and misplaced.
Let’s be clear: the electorate gave an unambiguous instruction that Britain must leave the European Union. Sadly, Brexit is going to happen.
UKIP’s fear, anger and childish tantrums would be warranted if the judges had ruled that the referendum result was null and void. But they did nothing of the sort. They have simply ruled that our politicians must be able to vote on questions that arise from our leaving, not on whether or not we should leave. This is about due process. It is not unreasonable for parliamentarians to want to check that the government is doing all it can to get the best deal for Britain.
I know some UKIP members have difficulty with simple concepts such as putting one foot in front of the other, but this is such an easy ruling to understand. Still, if they are unhappy they can ask the judges to make the decision again or speak to the European Court of Justice.
