15 November 2018

Issue: 7817 / Categories: Features , Brexit

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All Out War (Pt 3): why has Brexit policy failed?

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Can the Duke of Wellington stop Brexit?

With policymakers stymied by Brexit, a legal mechanism—the Victorian criminal offence of ‘open and advised speaking’ contained in s 3 of the Treason Felony Act 1848—could provide a way out.

Boris Johnson complained in September that ‘there has been a collective failure of government, and a collapse of will by the British establishment, to deliver on the mandate of the people,’ (Daily Telegraph, 28 September 2018). Lawyer and writer David Allen Green has also commented on this failure: ‘The Article 50 process means that the UK leaves the EU by automatic operation of law on 29 March 2019, unless something exceptional and currently unforeseeable happens. This is the fundamental legal truth which informs almost all the current politics about Brexit… [The] reason why legal (and legalistic) issues have become so important—almost determinative—in Brexit is because of the complete failure of UK policy’ (Jack of Kent blog, 11 September 2018). Professor Mark Elliott, an academic who

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All Out War (Pt 3): why has Brexit policy failed?

© Copyright LexisNexis 2026. All Rights Reserved.

Can the Duke of Wellington stop Brexit?

With policymakers stymied by Brexit, a legal mechanism—the Victorian criminal offence of ‘open and advised speaking’ contained in s 3 of the Treason Felony Act 1848—could provide a way out.

Boris Johnson complained in September that ‘there has been a collective failure of government, and a collapse of will by the British establishment, to deliver on the mandate of the people,’ (Daily Telegraph, 28 September 2018). Lawyer and writer David Allen Green has also commented on this failure: ‘The Article 50 process means that the UK leaves the EU by automatic operation of law on 29 March 2019, unless something exceptional and currently unforeseeable happens. This is the fundamental legal truth which informs almost all the current politics about Brexit… [The] reason why legal (and legalistic) issues have become so important—almost determinative—in Brexit is because of the complete failure of UK policy’ (Jack of Kent blog, 11 September 2018). Professor Mark Elliott, an academic who

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Carey Olsen—Patrick Ormond

Carey Olsen—Patrick Ormond

Partner joinscorporate and finance practice in British Virgin Islands

Dawson Cornwell—Naomi Angell

Dawson Cornwell—Naomi Angell

Firm strengthens children department with adoption and surrogacy expert

Penningtons Manches Cooper—Graham Green

Penningtons Manches Cooper—Graham Green

Media and technology expert joins employment team as partner in Cambridge

NEWS

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Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners

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A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent

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Thousands more magistrates are to be recruited, under a major shake-up to speed up and expand the hiring process

LexisNexis Legal Awards 2026—the winners!

The winners of the LexisNexis Legal Awards 2026 have now been announced, marking another outstanding celebration of excellence, innovation, and impact across the legal profession

NLJ this week: Freed but failed—justice system leaves the innocent empty-handed

Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’

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