LONDONThe lawyer representing Gina Miller in the Supreme Court said on Tuesday that the government has "no answer" to the argument that triggering Article 50 without consulting parliament will unlawfully destroyrights of UK citizens.Lord Pannick QC addressed the court's 11 justices on Tuesday afternoon for the first time since the appeal got underway on Monday morning.The lawyer reiterated the point that led the High Court to rule against the government last monthinvoking Article 50 without parliamentary approval will nullify rights which parliament passed and only parliament can repeal.One of the arguments put forward bygovernment's legal team on Monday was that using royal prerogative powers in order to trigger Article 50 would not usurp parliamentary democracy, because MPs will have a say on Brexit once it is triggered. Pannick dismissed this argument.He said: "It is no answer... to say parliament will later be involved... The fact of the matter is [Brexit] will cause a nullification of rights that only an act of parliament can authorise."In the High Court, Pannick argued that triggering Article 50 would result in statutory rights enjoyed by Brits as EU citizenslike the right to vote to in EU elections and refer a legal dispute to the European Court of Justicebeing destroyed in an instant. These are rights that MPs passed into domestic law in the European Communities Act (1972).He repeated this line of argument on Tuesday, saying: "However flexible our constitution, it cannot be bent so that ministers through the exercise of the prerogative can take away that which Parliament has created."Pannick went onto to remind the court that June's EU referendum was merely advisory, and added that the Tory government had turned down opportunities to give the result of the national vote a legal trigger."The government resisted an amendment to give legal force to the referendum," the lawyer said. "If parliament meant the 2015 Act to have legal effect, it could and it would have said so."Earlier in the day, government lawyer James Eadie QC appeared to confirm speculation that Theresa May will put a "one-line" Article 50 bill to parliament if the government loses its appeal. This was followed by news that the government will publish its exit strategy before Article 50 is triggered, after the Labour Party tabled a motion calling on the prime minister to do so.Join the conversation about this storyNOW WATCH: The 3 worst things you do when you wash your face ' according to a dermatologist
Click here to read full news..
