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Parliament must vote on whether the UK can start the process of leaving the EU, the High Court has ruled.
This means the government cannot trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty - beginning formal exit negotiations with the EU - on its own.
Theresa May says the referendum - and existing ministerial powers - mean MPs do not need to vote, but campaigners called this unconstitutional.
The government is appealing, with a further hearing expected next month.
- Rolling reaction to Article 50 court ruling
- Kuenssberg: Will this mean early election?
- The High Court's judgement in full
- Brexit: All you need to know
A statement is to be made to MPs on Monday but 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".
Plebiscites only count when plebes vote the way they're told.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 04 2016, @09:19AM
You don't retroactively change the rules of an vote because you don't like the topic. This is obvious stuff. And apply the same math to nearly any election results on any topic and you'll find that 27% of the population is an absolutely enormous mandate by the standards of modern democracies without coerced voting. The 2008 US election was the most hotly contested and highest turnout election ever in a modern democracy. Obama won with 69.5 million votes or less than 23% of the population at the time.
(Score: 3, Informative) by khallow on Friday November 04 2016, @11:51AM
You don't retroactively change the rules of an vote because you don't like the topic.
No rules were changed. A non-binding referendum is non-binding. Parliament has to approve or Brexit doesn't happen. Elections are a way to ensure that the public gets what it wants.
The 2008 US election was the most hotly contested and highest turnout election ever in a modern democracy.
Not even close. For example, it was similar turnout to the US in the 1950s and 1960s. Second, Australia with its mandatory voting has achieved turnout of 94%.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 04 2016, @08:41PM
"of modern democracies without coerced voting"
Australia is coerced voting. He did leave it off in the second sentence though.