Theresa May’s plans to pull Brexit trigger thrown into chaos after court ruling

The 11 justices of the Supreme Court ruled 8-3 that Prime Minister Theresa May could not push

ahead with the process of pulling the UK out of the EU without first taking it to a vote on the floor of Parliament.

Ms May had been trying to avoid a Parliamentary vote, fearing MPs opposed to Brexit would delay and amend the process.

She had claimed she and her ministers had the power to start the process — by triggering what is known as Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty — but the High Court disagreed last month, ruling that legislation was required to trigger Article 50.

This means MPs and peers will have to approve the enabling legislation.

The High Court had ruled last month that Ms May did not have the prerogative powers required to simply start the withdrawal process, because it would result in law changes in the UK.

The Government appealed but the Supreme Court has now upheld the High Court’s rulings.

The Government did get one win — the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the Government did not also have to seek the approval of the devolved parliaments in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland before pulling the trigger.

Exactly how the UK was going to divorce itself from its 40-year marriage to the EU has been unclear ever since the referendum in June last year which saw the majority vote to leave.

Ms May had campaigned for the UK to stay within the European Union, as did the then-PM David Cameron, who resigned as a result of the referendum.

The case has inflamed passions in the UK, where people are strongly polarised on whether the UK should stay or leave the European Union. The lead plaintiff in the case, businesswoman Gina Miller, arrived at the Supreme Court in London with a police escort.

Ms May will now have to bring a Bill before the Parliament to get approval to trigger Article 50, which must happen before she can start the withdrawal negotiations.

The process will take at least two years, and Ms May had set a deadline for the trigger to be pulled by March 31.

The situation is equally tricky for Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, as many of his MPs are in open

revolt about leaving the EU, and are threatening to vote against it, notwithstanding the results of the referendum.