Senior Tories have urged the prime minister to drop an appeal against the high court decision which rules parliament should vote on the UK leaving the EU.
Oliver Letwin, the man formerly in charge of Brexit negotiations, has called for Theresa May to abandon the appeal to the supreme court against the decision requiring a Parliament vote to trigger Article 50.
The ex-attorney general Dominic Grieve and former solicitor-general Sir Edward Garnier also said May should back down.
Three top judges ruled on November 3 that the government does not have the power to trigger Article 50, which starts the formal process of leaving the EU, without a vote in parliament.
But the government said it was planning to fight the ruling and lodged an appeal with the supreme court – the highest court in the UK.
The three Conservatives, who all supported the Remain campaign, want the process of voting started as soon as possible with a bill in parliament.
Sir Edward told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: “That way you avoid an unnecessary legal row, you avoid a lot of unnecessary expense, but you also avoid an opportunity for ill-motivated people to attack the judiciary, to misconstrue the motives of both parties to the lawsuit, and you provide certainty.”
Letwin, a former minister who was director of the “Brexit Unit” following the referendum, said avoiding the supreme court would avert a risk of judges granting “veto powers” to devolved administrations.
On Friday the Supreme Court ruled that Scottish and Welsh governments should have a say in the appeal hearing scheduled to start on December 5.
Grieve told yesterday that the government’s chance of success at the Supreme Court hearing is low.
He added: “I can’t see the point in the government continuing with the case and also agree that if they enact primary legislation, they will get it through parliament.”
A spokesman for the Department for the Exit of the European Union said: “The country voted to leave the European Union in a referendum approved by an Act of Parliament and the government is determined to respect that result.
“We will robustly defend our position in the forthcoming appeal.
As the prime minister made clear (on Friday), our work is on track and we remain committed to triggering Article 50 by the end of March next year.”
Boris Johnson talks “nonsense”about EU rules and needs to “get real” about the consequences of Brexit, a Tory former minister has said.
Anna Soubry revealed she would not attempt to block Brexit by voting against triggering Article 50 of the EU treaties in the Commons but launched an astonishing attack on the former mayor of London.
The Remain-supporting MP insisted immigration was unlikely to come down after Brexit as the UK economy needed foreign workers to fill job vacancies, citing this week’s employment statistics.
On Johnson, she told the Guardian: “We actually now have a foreign secretary who said the EU tells us what quantity of bananas we’re allowed to buy. 
“It’s just nonsense. And that’s the problem.”
Soubry also criticised Johnson for getting into a row with Italy by suggesting the country should back a generous Brexit deal for the UK to avoid losing sales of its beverage.
“Boris needs to talk to British businesses, as I do. Boris and the rest of his people need to get real.”
She spoke as business leaders and trade bodies renewed calls for Theresa May to secure transitional trade arrangements to give companies a “back-up” and certainty in case a post-Brexit deal was not ratified before the UK left.
As research suggested EU free trade agreements (FTAs) took an average of six and a half years to complete, they urged the prime minister to take steps to ensure business was not harmed if the UK could not cut a deal before pulling out in 2019.
The Open Britain study showed that the 37 deals the EU has in place, covering more than 50 countries, took an average of four years to negotiate and two years to come into force.
The Canada-EU trade deal which was recently agreed took more than seven years to negotiate and is not in force.
By contrast, the UK will pull out of the EU following just two years of negotiations under the Article 50 process.
Business figures warned against rushing towards a deal which could harm Britain’s economy and risk falling back on World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules, which would see tariffs introduced.
International Chamber of Commerce UK secretary general Chris Southworth said: “Despite concerns over a prolonged Brexit, there is a huge amount at stake in the negotiations, so it is far more important we get it right than try and squeeze the process into an unrealistic timeframe.
“Transitional arrangements would provide insurance and a safety net should timeframes overrun — and, importantly, give businesses confidence to plan ahead without fearing a sudden increase in cost or disruption.”
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