No leaving EU without Parliament’s consent

By Thomas L Blair © 11 January 2017

Win or lose the Supreme Court ruling this month, Race and Brexit is something special. Two public figures of British/Guyana heritage stalled Brexit, the government’s triggering Article 50 without the consent of Parliament. The favourable High Court verdict in 2016 forced Prime Minister Theresa May to make a humiliating appeal.

The case for Parliament’s sovereign power

Gina Miller led the challenge. The investment manager turned philanthropist said she had no stakes in the outcome. She brought the case “for all of us”

David Lammy, Labour MP for Tottenham, campaigned against the “madness” exit vote”. [See Chronicleworld “Who has the sovereign power to secede”].

Race hate sullied the judicial process                                                               

Miller, the lead claimant, plead her case amidst widespread racial acrimony.  Threats of violence disrupted her “normal life” and public appearances. “Kill her: she’s not even British, read one tweet”, which she refuted.

Political operatives sought to derail the court case. As if to add insult to injury, John Redwood MP, a Conservative Party watchdog, defended the Leave vote, and dismissed the Miller court action as “an irrelevance”.

Differing media support sovereign power

The debate over Art 50, and Brexit, is less complicated than it often seems. Expert journalists on newspapers traditionally in opposition agree.

“Brexit means Brexit, but Parliament is Parliament. MPs must vote on how we leave,” said The Telegraph. At risk, The Observer said, is a “fundamental principle of British democracy that parliament is sovereign. Not the government. Not the executive or a self-selecting clique …”

Black public intervention supports democracy

All await the judge’s decision this month. The chances are they may reject the government’s appeal. Therefore, delaying Britain’s EU departure until lawmakers vote. This will frustrate the May government that has yet to lay out its Brexit plan.

Whatever the verdict, one thing is certain. The court case that stalled Brexit demonstrated the new role of Blacks in the public realm.

Defending her personal motivations to LBC radio listeners, Miller insists her only desire is “to see British law implemented properly”. A sentiment that has gained the support of thousands, and the admiration of Black Britons who overwhelmingly voted to Remain in the European Union.