Supreme Court: The Verdict Predicted

The government lost its appeal to the Supreme Court as most legal opinion expected, but it was a good judgement. It has established a modern interpretation of where executive power ends and parliamentary sovereignty begins. This was by an 8/3 majority, which is a good thing because it demonstrates to those who claimed there would be a fix (ridiculous but claimed by many) that there was real debate among the judges, and not just a rubber stamp for the obvious. By unanimous verdict the Court ruled that the devolved assemblies do not have to be separately consulted over Article 50. That was pretty obvious because the home nations are all represented at Westminster and can make their case there.

Now we have to see how the government responds. We have to see also how Labour responds. If the government gets it wrong it could suffer delays to its Brexit timetable. If Labour gets it wrong it will suffer humiliating defeats in its two upcoming by-elections. That could spell the end for Corbyn and trigger more infighting in the parliamentary party, which would test the voters’ patience to the very limit. It might also inspire Momentum to seize control of the Corbyn revolution to become something more than just an activist group.

The plus out of it all is that parliament will become interesting again. That must be good.