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The case of the missing mandate

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08 September 2017 / David Wolchover
Categories: Features , Brexit , Constitutional law
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David Wolchover contends that there is no mandate for the UK to be taken out of the EU & considers how the European Parliament may force a further referendum

Early in June Counsel Magazine online published an article in which I contended that the Prime Minister’s 29 March 2017 letter to President of the Council of Europe Donald Tusk did not, despite its claim, actually trigger Art 50 of the Treaty on European Union (“Article 50: the trigger that never was?”). My argument was and remains that no decision or equivalent declaration of intention has ever been made by the UK to leave the EU and the government enjoys no mandate to embark upon the journey to withdrawal.

Having further contemplated the issue I have formulated a further argument which arguably makes the case against the existence of a mandate for invoking Art 50 incontrovertible. The purpose of this article is to highlight that new argument, which is likely to provide the basis for discreet steps to be taken

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