Article 50 High Court ruling relegated public's Brexit vote to a 'footnote', Attorney General says
High Court judges relegated the EU referendum result "almost to a footnote" by ruling parliament must have a vote on triggering Article 50, the Attorney General has said.
Jeremy Wright QC, the government's chief legal adviser, said the judges who made the ruling in November dismissed the public's vote as "merely" a political event.
Mr Wright will lead the government's Supreme Court appeal against the decision that Prime Minister Theresa May's administration does not have the power to start the Brexit process unilaterally.
He added in a legal argument submitted to the court that the issue "cannot be resolved in a vacuum".
The submission was signed by Mr Wright and other lawyers, including the Advocate General for Scotland Richard Keen QC.
They hope to persuade 11 Supreme Court justices to overturn the earlier ruling at a hearing which starts on Monday.
Investment fund manager and philanthropist Gina Miller launched the successful legal action, which argued that parliament must be consulted before Article 50 is enacted.