Oral Answers to Questions

Martyn Day Excerpts

Thursday 13th December 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Attorney General]

It would be unwise for me to think that any Act of Parliament could not benefit from review and subsequent improvement as time goes on, but I can assure the hon. Lady that this Government—and, I am sure, successive Governments—will be wedded to both the rule of law and human rights in this country.

[Martyn Day (Linlithgow and East Falkirk) (SNP)]

4. What implications the decision by the European Court of Justice on the revocability of article 50 has for his legal advice to the Government.

[Alison Thewliss (Glasgow Central) (SNP)]

9. What implications the decision by the European Court of Justice on the revocability of article 50 has for his legal advice to the Government.

[The Attorney General (Mr Geoffrey Cox)]

The decision of the European Court of Justice clarifies a question of EU law, and it does not in any way change the Government’s policy. The Government’s firm and long-standing policy is that we will not revoke the article 50 notice. The position has not changed and, as is well known, the case will now revert to the Scottish courts for the final decision.

[Martyn Day]

Will the Attorney General take this opportunity to confirm that he advised the Prime Minister that the ECJ’s ruling means that voting against her deal does not automatically mean a no-deal Brexit, and that revoking the article 50 notice and remaining in the EU under current terms and conditions is a third option?

[The Attorney General]

The Government’s policy is that we do not intend to revoke article 50. We intend to leave the European Union on 29 March, and the fact or otherwise of the irrevocability of article 50 is wholly irrelevant to that question. The truth, however, is that the giving of notice under article 50 would not just be an easy matter of pressing a button and the revocation taking effect.