LONDON: Britain’s Supreme Court ruled Tuesday the government must win parliament’s approval before beginning Brexit negotiations in a landmark judgment that also said regional lawmakers had no say.
“The Supreme Court rules that the government cannot trigger Article 50 without an act of parliament authorizing it to do so,” Supreme Court president David Neuberger told a packed courtroom in London.
He said a majority of the 11 judges had agreed that withdrawing from the European Union meant there would have to be changes to British laws and therefore the national parliament had to be consulted.
But he said lawmakers in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales had no say, in a blow for Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who has argued that since Scotland voted to stay in the EU then it should not be taken out “against its will.”
Northern Ireland also voted against Brexit.
“UK ministers are not legally compelled to consult the devolved legislatures... Relations with the EU are a matter for the UK government,” Neuberger said.
Attorney General Jeremy Wright said the government was “disappointed” but the ruling was widely expected and draft legislation is already being prepared in order to meet Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit timetable.
May has said she is planning to invoke Article 50 of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty by the end of March, and Brexit minister David Davis is expected to address MPs later on Tuesday to provide details.
David Greene, a lawyer for one of the claimants, hairdresser Deir Dos Santos, hailed the ruling as a “victory for democracy and the rule of law.”
The lead claimant, investment fund manager Gina Miller, said: “No prime minister, no government can expect to be unanswerable or unchallenged.”
She added: “MPs we have elected will rightfully have the opportunity to bring their invaluable expertise and experience to bear.”
Miller said: “This case was about the legal process not politics. Today’s decision has created legal certainty based on our democratic process.”
Lawmakers are not expected to vote against triggering Article 50 but the main opposition Labour party has said it is planning amendments to demand an early “meaningful” vote on the final divorce settlement.
Labour also wants provisions included in the bill urging the government to negotiate tariff-free access to the EU’s single market and agreed to abide by EU-level protection of workers’ rights.
May has said she wants to leave the single market in order to be able to restrict immigration and negotiate a new customs deal with the EU.
Tuesday’s decision follows a High Court ruling against the government in November, in a case which attracted protests, as well as death threats and racist taunts against Miller.
“I have been shocked by the levels of personal abuse I have received from many quarters,” Miller said.
She said people in power should be “much quicker” in condemning this abuse.
Anger was also directed at the High Court judges following their decision in November, with one newspaper branding them “Enemies of the People.”
The legal challenge has tapped into divisions within British society after the June referendum which saw 52 percent vote to leave the EU.
Parliament must approve start of Brexit talks: court
Parliament must approve start of Brexit talks: court
US immigration agent fatally shoots woman in Minneapolis, mayor disputes government claim of self-defense
- A visibly angry mayor said federal immigration agents were responsible for sowing chaos in the city
MINNEAPOLIS: A US immigration agent shot and killed a 37-year-old woman in her car in Minneapolis on Wednesday amid an immigration enforcement surge, according to local and federal officials, the latest violent incident during President Donald Trump’s nationwide crackdown on migrants.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey adamantly rejected the Trump administration’s claim that the agent fired in self-defense, saying he has seen video of the shooting that directly contradicts what he called the government’s “garbage narrative.”
“They’re already trying to spin this as an action of self-defense,” he said at a press conference. “Having seen the video myself, I want to tell everybody directly — that is bullshit.”
A visibly angry Frey said federal immigration agents were responsible for sowing chaos in the city, telling ICE: “Get the f*** out of Minneapolis.” But he also urged residents to remain calm.
The shooting drew protesters into the streets near the scene, some of whom were met by heavily armed federal agents wearing gas masks who fired chemical irritants at the demonstrators.
Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security said in a post on X that the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer began firing after a “violent rioter” attempted to run over ICE officers.
“The alleged perpetrator was hit and is deceased,” she wrote. “The ICE officers who were hurt are expected to make full recoveries.”
Frey said the woman did not appear to be trying to ram anyone in the video he had reviewed. The city police chief, Brian O’Hara, told reporters that the preliminary investigation indicated the woman’s vehicle was blocking traffic when a federal officer approached on foot.
“The vehicle began to drive off,” he said. “At least two shots were fired. The vehicle then crashed on the side of the roadway.”
Trump, a Republican, has deployed federal immigration agents to Democratic-led cities across the US through his first year in office in a crackdown against illegal immigration, leading to backlash from some residents.
The administration planned to send approximately 2,000 agents to Minneapolis, according to news reports, following allegations of wide-scale welfare fraud involving Somali immigrants, whom Trump has called “garbage.”
The identity of the shot woman was not publicly disclosed. US Senator Tina Smith, a Minnesota Democrat, said on X that she was a US citizen. The police chief said the woman, who was married, was not a target of immigration operations.
WITNESSES DESCRIBE SHOOTING
A dark-colored SUV with a bullet hole through its windshield and blood splattered across the headrest was seen rammed into a pole on the snowy street where the shooting took place.
Venus de Mars, a 65-year-old Minneapolis resident who lives near the site of the shooting, described seeing paramedics perform CPR on a woman collapsed next to a snowbank near the crashed car. Shortly after, they loaded her into an ambulance that drove away without its sirens on.
“There’s been lots of ICE activity but nothing like this,” de Mars said. “I’m so angry. I’m so angry, and I feel helpless.”
The deployment of agents to Minneapolis follows Trump’s recent attacks on Democratic Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and the state’s large population of Somali Americans and Somali immigrants over allegations of fraud dating back to 2020 by some nonprofit groups that administer childcare and other social services programs.
At least 56 people have pleaded guilty since federal prosecutors started to bring charges in 2022 under Trump’s Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden. Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 2024, announced this week he would not seek a third term as governor, saying he did not have time both to address the fraud scandal and to campaign.
Immigration agents have been involved in other similar shootings during the Trump administration’s crackdown.
During “Operation Midway Blitz,” Trump’s immigration enforcement surge in Chicago last fall, ICE agents shot and killed Silverio Villegas Gonzalez, a 38-year-old Mexican national in a Chicago suburb. Gonzalez, a cook and father of two with no criminal record, was shot in his car after agents attempted to arrest him.
A DHS statement said Gonzalez had steered his car at agents, dragging one officer and causing him to fire out of fear for his life. Police bodycam footage obtained by Reuters complicated that narrative, with the ICE agent saying his injuries were “nothing major.”
Border Patrol agents also shot a woman in Chicago in October. DHS said the shooting was in self-defense after the woman, Marimar Martinez, rammed into the agents’ vehicle. But her lawyer said video footage showed the agents hit her car before opening fire.
In December, ICE agents fired at a van carrying two men they were targeting for arrest, leaving one with bullet wounds. A DHS statement said the men drove the van at ICE officers, prompting them to fire in self-defense.
