Britain's highest court is to rule on whether the process of leaving the European Union can begin without parliament's assent. Ministers are reported to be drafting a bill in case the ruling goes against them.
Image: picture-alliance/AA/K. Green
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The UK Supreme Court is to rule next Tuesday on the government's appeal on the use of executive powers to start Britain's exit from the European Union, without parliament having a say. The case was brought by campaigners including investment manager Gina Miller and hairdresser Deir Dos Santos.
It revolves around the right of Prime Minister Theresa May to trigger Article 50 of the European Union's Lisbon Treaty using just "royal prerogative" powers. May said she would take the decision and begin the two-year formal process of leaving the EU by the end of March. A referendum in June 2016 returned a slight majority in favor of leaving the bloc.
But last November the High Court in London ruled that it would be unlawful for May to act alone.
May: Britain to leave EU single market
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The government appealed the decision to the Supreme Court, the UK's highest legal body. All eleven of the Court's judges took part in four days of hearings last month. Their ruling is to be announced on Tuesday morning next week, the Court announced on Wednesday. It is expected to take about five minutes for the court's president, Lord Neuberger, to read out a brief summary of the decision. Lawyers for the main parties will have received advance notice.
According to a report in The Guardian newspaper, a number of legal experts expect the appeal to go against the government. "Government sources have already signalled that they expect to lose the main point of their appeal and have begun drafting versions of a bill to put before parliament approving Brexit," the Guardian reported on Wednesday.
May's Brexit plan
The announcement came a day after Theresa May made a speech outlining the current government strategy for Brexit.
On Wednesday, speaking in New Delhi, Foreign Minister Boris Johnson responded to French criticism of the UK's plan as he said of the President, if "Hollande wants to administer punishment beatings to anybody who seeks to escape [the EU], in the manner of some world war two movie, I don't think that is the way forward, and it's not in the interests of our friends and partners."
Also on Wednesday Prime Minister Joseph Muscat of Malta, which holds the EU presidency, said leaders of the bloc would have to meet about a month after May triggered Brexit, adding "We want a fair deal for the United Kingdom. But that deal necessarily needs to be inferior to membership."
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico echoed the sentiments as he said on Wednesday "I am convinced that in no case will a future agreement be more favourable for Great Britain than current membership in the EU."
"Negotiations over Brexit will be very tough and painful and it would be wrong if (remaining EU members) emerged weaker and Britain stronger," Fico added.
Post-Brexit protests in Great Britain
Pro-EU or Pro-Brexit? Brits on both sides are worried about one thing: if and when the British parliament will trigger Article 50, the formal mechanism to leave the European Union.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/J. Tallis
"Brexit means Brexit!": Houses of Parliament, London, November 23, 2016
Around 200 Pro-Brexit protesters gathered outside the Houses of Parliament demanding a speedy exit from the European Union. They accuse the government of deliberately delaying the process by looking for loopholes to prevent Brexit.
Image: REUTERS/T. Melville
48% still make their voices heard
An EU-supporter protests outside the High Court in London as the Supreme Court announces that both the Scottish and Welsh Governments will be allowed to intervene in a court battle over how the Brexit process should be formally triggered.
Image: picture-alliance/empics/Y. Mok
A pro-Brexit supporter dressed as a judge…
…stands in front of an EU-supporter outside Britain's High Court. The battle over Britain's exit from the European Union reached the High Court in a legal challenge to Prime Minister Theresa May's right to start negotiations for Britain to leave the EU without a vote in parliament. The move could delay Brexit if successful and set up a constitutional face-off between the courts and the government.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/A. Dennis
Pro and counter protests: Parliament Square, London, September 3, 2016
Under the slogan "March for Europe" EU-friendly Britons protested in Parliament Square in central London. Up to 2,000 protesters took a route from Hyde Park to the British parliament building in Westminster. Protests also took place in other British cities, including Edinburgh and Birmingham.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/J. Tallis
Furious about the delay
At the same demonstration, a much smaller counterprotest took place. Brexit supporters with banners such as "No More Excuses, We Want Brexit Now!" vented their anger about the stalemate in Brexit proceedings.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/J. Tallis
Students in London protest against tuition fees...
…but also worry about the recent wave of xenophobia and racism as a result of the vote in June. Paul Bagguley, a sociologist at Leeds University specializing in multicultural conflict in Britain, says that Brexit "was a kind of celebratory racism, partly because there was a political campaign in the run-up to it which legitimized expressions of racism."
Image: picture-alliance/Photoshot
Marmitegate: Turning to practical impacts of Brexit
When the value of a currency drops, the price of imports rises. But the situation with Marmite has been more complicated. Although Marmite is produced in the UK, it is owned by Unilever, an Anglo/Dutch company. It claimed that the price of the popular yeast spread had risen due to Brexit. Supermarket chain, Tesco, reacted by refusing to carry it. Thankfully, an agreement was reached.
Image: picture-alliance/empics/Y. Mok
Frankfurt Christmas market in Birmingham at stake?
This year Birmingham is hosting the German christmas market, with 138 stalls. If the British government imposes permits and visas in the wake of Brexit, then stallholders may find it too complicated to come to Britain. They may turn to other EU countries instead.
Image: picture alliance/robertharding/F. Fell
Will European Christmas markets be too expensive for Brits?
But perhaps there's still reason to hope: Glühwein, wooden toys and Bratwurst will probably always be in demand. The organiser of the Frankfurt Christmas Market in Birmingham, Kurt Stroscher, told the Birmingham Mail: "Brexit and the low value of the pound will not have any effect on prices."
