UKIP LEADER NIGEL Farage has cited Ireland as an example of where the EU has ignored the results of a referendum.
Speaking on the BBC after the UK’s High Court ruled that Prime Minister Theresa May cannot start the process of leaving the European Union without parliament’s approval, Farage said that the ‘ruling elite’ is trying to block a full Brexit.
“I’ve been the European Parliament for years so I’ve seen this happen all over Europe” he said.
I’ve seen the Danes forced to vote again, I’ve seen the Irish forced to vote again, the Dutch and French ignored. There is a political and wealthy ruling elite that are not prepared to accept the democratic result of referendums.
Farage was appearing on the Andrew Marr show with one of the named claimant in the High Court case, investment fund manager Gina Miller.
“I just want to ask her what part of the word leave don’t you understand?”, Farage said addressing Miller.
She responded by saying that Farage should be thankful that her case strengthened the role of the British parliament:
So should we sack all the MPs? We have a representative democracy at the moment and they have to go in there and debate. And that’s what parliament’s for. That’s what you argued for the whole way through. You argued for parliamentary sovereignty.
Miller also said that she has received online rape and beheading threats after the High Court ruling.
“I am really cross at the politicians and the media who are whipping this up because they are the ones inciting racism and violence and acrimony,” she said.
Farage also warned that the political temperature was “very, very high”, and said there would be public outrage if parliament sought to undermine the Brexit vote.
“We will see political anger the likes of which none of us in our lifetimes have ever witnessed in this country,” he said.
Theresa May also warned UK lawmakers today not to block Brexit.
“MPs and peers who regret the referendum result need to accept what the people decided,” May said in her first comments since Thursday’s controversial High Court judgment.
The Conservative government is appealing the court’s finding that parliament must agree to the triggering of Article 50 of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty, which begins formal negotiations on Britain leaving the bloc.
The ruling prompted outrage among Brexit supporters, amid speculation that pro-European lawmakers would seek to water down the break with the EU and derail May’s plans to begin formal exit talks by the end of March.
In a statement issued ahead of a trade mission to India, the prime minister said she was focused on getting the best outcome from Brexit following the June referendum vote.
“That means sticking to our plan and timetable, getting on with the work of developing our negotiating strategy and not putting all our cards on the table,” she said.
The ruling sparked attacks on the judges involved, with one newspaper calling them “Enemies of the People”, while one of the claimants in the case
Labour block?
Opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, whose party has 231 MPs in the 650-seat House of Commons, said this week that he will not seek to reverse the referendum result.
But the Sunday Mirror tabloid reported that he would vote against Article 50 unless May agreed to press for continued access to the European single market and guarantee EU workplace rights after Brexit.
“These must be the basis of the negotiations. And it doesn’t necessarily cause a delay,” Corbyn told the paper.
The High Court decision has fuelled speculation that May might call a snap election to strengthen her support in the House of Commons before the vote on Article 50.
Corbyn said his party was preparing for the election to be brought forward from 2020, although Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt played down the idea.
“I think a general election is the last thing the government wants,” the cabinet minister told the BBC.
With reporting by © – AFP 2016
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