Brexit: Article 50 Bill could be 'very short indeed', says Supreme Court

The Government has already prepared a range of potential Bills to put before Parliament

Prime Minister Theresa May (Getty Images)

Labour has said it will fight any attempts by the Government to introduce a one-clause bill that will trigger Brexit.

The Supreme Court has cleared the way for Theresa May to bring forward a piece of legislation for Parliament to trigger Brexit that is only "very short indeed" .

The words in the ruling are a boost to ministers who favour a short bill that could limit the breadth of the debate in Parliament that precedes a vote, and make it harder for opposition MPs to amend the legislation.

But it also sets the scene for wrangles in the Commons and Lords, with Labour, Liberal Democrats and the SNP all signalling they will try to alter any legislation the Government brings forward.

Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer said: "If it's a simple piece of legislation we would then want to amend it to ensure Parliament does have a proper role and a meaningful role in the process."

"The vote at the end of the exercise is really important.

"In other words, Parliament needs to have a meaningful role at the outset in knowing and setting out objectives but also a grip on the process until we get to a conclusion," he added.

Asked if Labour would try to stop Brexit, he replied: "We have said repeatedly that we accept and respect the outcome of the referendum and it follows from that that we don't seek to block the Prime Minister from starting negotiations.

"But we have said all along that the terms of the negotiation and the role of Parliament in this is really important so we will be pushing for amendments."

Broadly the case today was over whether Theresa May could trigger Article 50, starting the official Brexit process, without allowing Parliament a vote on the matter.

While the Supreme Court upheld a High Court decision that MPs are entitled to vote on it, they also delivered some good news for the Prime Minister regarding the kind of Bill MPs should vote on.

The judgement said: "What form such legislation should take is entirely a matter for Parliament.

"But, in the light of a point made in oral argument, it is right to add that the fact that Parliament may decide to content itself with a very brief statute is nothing to the point.

"There is no equivalence between the constitutional importance of a statute, or any other document, and its length or complexity. A notice under article 50(2) could no doubt be very short indeed, but that would not undermine its momentous significance."

The Independent reported yesterday that ministers believe they will be ready to publish their Bill as early as this week, in a bid to ensure Ms May keeps to her timetable of triggering Article 50 by the end of March.

A Government source said: "It will take a couple of days to fully digest the judgement and determine what the response will be. Officials can work quickly but they won’t be able to work miracles to bring it out on the morning."

The well-placed source added: “We need to look at the issues that arise and after that we can make a decision pretty swiftly. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect the Bill to be published later in the week.”