The High Court has ruled that parliament must vote on whether or not the UK can begin the process to leave the EU.
This means that the government, including Prime Minister Theresa May, will not be able to trigger Article 50 on their own. The prime minister’s official spokesman said the government had “no intention of letting the judgement derail Article 50 or the timetable we have set out. We are determined to continue with our plan”. However, they have not specified what this plan is after this change.
This also pushes back the original decision made by Theresa May to activate Article 50 by next March, and will affect how the government can begin negotiations with the EU.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn spoke publicly to the government saying they should “bring its negotiating terms to Parliament without delay”.
UKIP leader Nigel Farage said he feared that voters who backed leaving the EU might “betray” their decision after this recent annoucement.
The government is appealing the decision, and a further hearing is expected next month.