Humanity Hallows Issue 5 Out Now
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By Ryan Geraghty

After much deliberation, the Supreme Court finally came to a decision yesterday that a parliamentary vote is required before Theresa May’s government can trigger Article 50, and take the UK out of the European Union. This verdict is important because it means that Brexit is not guaranteed. Theoretically, MPs could refuse the Tories’ Article 50 bill indefinitely, meaning we would never leave the EU, and many are already in uproar about this.

Nigel Farage, a prominent Leave campaigner and former leader of UKIP, reacted with a tweet:

The establishment are trying to delay the Brexit process. People are getting angry about it. pic.twitter.com/ExeGKQfVwH

— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) January 24, 2017

Current UKIP leader Paul Nuttall also tweeted:

The decision was the people's not the courts. But it doesn't matter much, Labour will not survive setting itself against the people's will

— Paul Nuttall (@paulnuttallukip) January 24, 2017

Yet despite the outrage and claims that the decision goes against the democratic will of the people, the truth is the complete opposite. The Supreme Court’s ruling was a huge victory for democracy.

Frankly, the truth is that the Conservatives never really cared about democracy. If they’d wanted to leave the European Union they could have simply put that in their manifesto for 2015 and earned a mandate to do so with a general election victory, but no, the EU referendum was not a gift of democracy as the Tories like to pretend, but a cowardly act of non-commitment that has led us down a path of uncertainty about the future of our country.

“Brexit means Brexit”, became Theresa May’s catchphrase for the second half of 2016, but the truth is that David Cameron never knew what Brexit meant, and never expected to find out, he only called a referendum in answer to rising pressure from UKIP, and to solve internal party conflicts in what he considered to be a risk-free way. Never in Cameron’s worst nightmares were we supposed to actually leave the European Union. This referendum was called to ease tensions among the Conservatives and put the issue of the EU to bed once and for all. However, it didn’t quite work out that way. Still, no matter what the reasons for calling the referendum, one was called, and so democracy did become a part of the process. The result of the referendum must, and will, be honoured.

When the British people voted to leave the EU last year, many did so because they wanted to take back control of our own laws and our own sovereignty. Therefore, to exclude elected members of parliament from the decision that will return this control would subvert the very democracy and sovereignty that Brexiteers claim to value so highly.

The government will honour the referendum result because to not do so would be political suicide. However, parliament’s right to refuse a deal they deem unsatisfactory ensures that Theresa May negotiates a deal that is in the best interest of the British people. The reason opposition exists is to challenge the government when they believe their decisions are not in the country’s best interest. The Tories cannot have a free pass on Article 50. Theresa May must be held to account, and to deny politicians the chance to do that would not only be undemocratic, but downright tyrannical.

Ryan Geraghty is a freelance journalist and political writer based in Manchester. He is a contributor to The Word newspaper and is currently studying for an MA in Multimedia Journalism. Follow him on Twitter @RP_Geraghty