MPs dealt a further blow to Prime Minister Theresa May’s Withdrawal Agreement this week, after the Attorney General Geoffrey Cox QC delivered his legal opinion that the legal risk of being trapped in the backstop remains unchanged.
The government endured a humiliating defeat. Cox said May’s revisions to the Brexit deal ‘reduces the risk’ of being caught in the backstop. However, he scuppered May’s claim to have negotiated legally binding changes by stating, in his advice to the government, that there were ‘no internationally lawful means of exiting the Protocol’s arrangements, save by agreement’. His opinion was backed by several prominent QCs including Brick Court’s David Anderson QC and 11KBW’s Jason Coppel QC and Sean Aughey, who were commissioned by the People’s Vote campaign to draw up a legal opinion overnight.
Susan Bright, regional managing partner, UK and Africa at Hogan Lovells said: ‘What happens next will be up to Parliament—to an extent.
‘A third vote against a no-deal exit will not stop the UK’s departure on 29 March without a deal—that remains the default outcome. With a materially different deal now looking implausible, the options open to a Parliament opposed to a no deal exit will be to delay Brexit day or cancel Brexit entirely. The first will require a majority in Parliament, and will mean convincing each of the EU27 that there is a real purpose for the postponement. The second would almost certainly need an Act of Parliament, requiring a majority of MPs to vote against their manifesto positions. That is why businesses should continue to focus their preparations on the risk of the UK leaving the EU on 29 March without an exit deal.’
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