The way forward

THE rallying cry of the campaign for Britain to leave the European Union was that it was time for the country’s own national institutions to seize power from the unaccountable courts and parliaments across the Channel. So there is some irony in the fact that, on November 3rd, Brexiteers spluttered with indignation when three British judges, sitting in the High Court in London, ruled that under English law the business of triggering Brexit should fall to Britain’s sovereign Parliament, rather than the government alone.The haziness of Britain’s unwritten constitution contributes to the confusion around the ruling (see ). In fact, the High Court’s judgment may delay Brexit by a few weeks, but it does not imperil it. If the government loses its appeal in the Supreme Court next month it will have to seek Parliament’s approval before triggering Article 50 of the EU treaty, the legal route to Brexit. Theoretically, MPs could vote it down, but they won’t: although most would prefer to remain, they will not ignore the referendum held in June, which resulted in a clear vote to leave.