The High Court of England has ruled that the British government can not invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, triggering Brexit negotiations, until there as been a vote in parliament.
I suspect that there will be quite a few legal challenges on the Brexit process and the details of the deal, but the one thing that can not be in doubt is the actual decision made by the British public to leave the European Union.
Before, during and after the referendum the government, the main political parties and most MPs (including myself) all committed to making the referendum binding. The previous Prime Minister, David Cameron stated again and again that the referendum was a simple In/ Out decision and that the instructions of the British people would then be enacted by the government. We can not and should not go back on this commitment.
The latest High Court decision does not change the decision or the result of the referendum. It does, however, add a step in the process that some of us were not expecting of there being a vote in parliament to trigger article 50. If the government appeals the High Court decision and wins then there may not need to be a parliamentary vote. If the government chooses not to appeal, or loses the appeal then there will be a vote in parliament.
Given my own commitment to my constituents to respect the result of the referendum – no matter which way it went – I will therefore vote in favour of triggering article 50 if there is a vote in parliament. To do otherwise would be breaking the commitment I made of respecting the result. I expect the vast majority of my colleagues will do the same, even though most MPs campaigned for and voted to remain in the EU.