‘It’s not over yet’: Top legal expert says Brexit vote has ‘no force whatsoever’

Geoffrey Robertson
Louisa Gouliamaki/AFP/Getty Images
Tom Marshall27 June 2016
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The Brexit vote has “no force whatsoever” and MPs must pass a new bill to leave the European Union, a leading constitutional lawyer has said.

Geoffrey Robertson QC insisted the matter was “not over yet” despite the public backing Brexit in Thursday’s historic referendum.

He said the outcome of the referendum was merely advisory and new legislation would be required to quit the union.

Mr Robertson, who founded the Doughty Street Chambers, told the Independent: “It's the right of MPs alone to make or break laws, and the peers to block them.

“So there's no force whatsoever in the referendum result. It's entirely for MPs to decide.”

The country voted by a narrow 52 per cent to 48 per cent majority to quit the bloc on Thursday, with the Leave campaign winning 17.4 million votes to 16.1 million for Remain.

But Mr Robertson said MPs must now pass a new bill in the Commons to repeal the 1972 European Communities Act, which took the UK into the union.

They would have to do so after a majority of them supported Remain.

And he insisted MPs are “bound” to vote against the bill if they think doing so is in the nation's interests, despite the Leave vote.

“MPs are entitled to vote against it and are bound to vote against it, if they think it's in Britain's best interest [to vote that way]. It's not over yet,” he said.

“MPs will have to do their duty to vote according to conscience and vote for what's best for Britain. It's a matter for their consciences. They have got to behave courageously and conscientiously.”

He added: “Democracy in Britain doesn't mean majority rule... it's the representatives of the people, not the people themselves, who vote for them."

His comments come after David Lammy, Labour's MP for Tottenham, called on MPs to block Brexit.

Other constitutional experts have echoed his comments, with Charles Flint QC writing in a letter to the Times that an act of Parliament is needed to leave the EU.

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