Parliament is the cockpit of the nation, but MPs have been on autopilot rather a lot in the past 40-odd years. Ever since the United Kingdom joined the European Economic Community, more and more powers have been passed away from Parliament to Brussels and its institutions. Brexit will see these powers come flowing back to Westminster. So it was appropriate that the Supreme Court has decided that Parliament must legislate for the triggering of Article 50, the two-year process by which this country will leave the EU.
For MPs to vote against Article 50 would be to vote against the referendum result itself; it says nothing about the terms on which Britain will leave the EU. This is why the government will get its bill through both the Commons and the Lords with less difficulty than many expect. The Tory leadership in the Lords is confident that the upper house’s instinct for self-preservation will kick in and it won’t try to block the whole process.
James Forsyth and Henry Newman analyse what the Supreme Court ruling means for parliamentary sovereignty:
Politically, the Article 50 vote will be more difficult for Labour than the Tories. The Tories are relatively united on Brexit at the moment — even the ardent Remainer Anna Soubry praised Theresa May’s speech last week — and if the Conservative rebellion only takes the form of demanding a white paper on the government’s negotiating stance, then that is easily enough addressed. But the Labour divisions over the issue are far more existential. Those MPs whose constituencies voted Leave are worried about a Ukip challenge. They don’t want to open themselves up to the charge of obstructing the referendum result. Many of those with seats that voted heavily Remain, however, want to stand up for what they and their constituents believe.
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