EU judges delivered a boost for Remainer rebels today by ruling that Britain can unilaterally cancel Brexit.
The European Court of Justice decided that Article 50 can be withdrawn by the UK without permission from other member states.
The ruling will fuel tensions ahead of the crunch vote on Theresa May's Brexit deal tomorrow. It will encourage hopes from pro-EU MPs that a second referendum can be held to stop the UK from leaving the bloc altogether.
The case to decide whether an EU member state such as the UK can decide on its own to revoke the Article 50 withdrawal process was brought by a cross-party group of Scottish politicians.
They are Labour MEPs Catherine Stihler and David Martin, Joanna Cherry MP and Alyn Smith MEP of the SNP, and Green MSPs Andy Wightman and Ross Greer, together with lawyer Jolyon Maugham QC, director of the Good Law Project.
They argue unilateral revocation is possible and believe it could pave the way for an alternative option to Brexit, such as a People's Vote to enable remaining in the EU.
However, legal representatives for the UK Government believe the case is inadmissible as it deals with a hypothetical situation, since the Government's policy is not to revoke Article 50.
Lawyers representing the Council of the European Union and from the European Commission meanwhile argue that revocation is possible but would require unanimous agreement from all member states.
Last week the court's Advocate General rejected the idea that approval is needed from the European Council.
Instead, Manuel Campos Sanchez-Bordona said Article 50 allows the 'unilateral revocation of the notification of the intention to withdraw from the EU, until such time as the Withdrawal Agreement is formally concluded'.
The case was originally heard by the Court of Session in Edinburgh and two attempts by the UK Government to appeal against the referral to the European court were rejected.
Once the ECJ has delivered its ruling the case will be referred back to the Court of Session, where judges are expected to 'frank' the decision and declare the European Court's answer to be the law on the matter.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
