875 High Court rules that Parliament can Veto Brexit; £ surges

High Court rules that Parliament can Veto Brexit; £ surges

Newsletter published on 4 November 2016

(1) Members of Parliament vs the People
(2) High Court rules that Parliament can Veto Brexit
(3) Sterling soars after UK court gives Parliament power to block Brexit

(1) Members of Parliament vs the People - Peter Myers, November 4, 2016

The Court's ruling that sovereignty resides in Members of Parliament
rather than in the People makes a mockery of Democracy: it allows the 1%
to rule the 99%. Members of Parliament need money to get elected, and
this makes Donors and the Media the real rulers. But the elites, in both
UK & US, are risking revolution if they blatantly repudiate the People's
choice.

(2) High Court rules that Parliament can Veto Brexit

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-11-03/uk-parliament-needs-to-approve-brexit-trigger-court/7994466

Brexit: High Court rules that Government requires parliamentary approval
to leave European Union

By Europe correspondent Lisa Millar, wires

The British High Court has thrown the Brexit process into further chaos
after ruling that the Government will require parliamentary approval to
trigger the process of exiting the European Union, complicating Prime
Minister Theresa May's plans.

The court ruled against the British Government, which had argued it had
the right to implement Article 50 and begin the Brexit process as
planned before the end of March.

     "The most fundamental rule of the UK's constitution is that
parliament is sovereign and can make and unmake any law it chooses,"
Lord Chief Justice John Thomas said, reading out the ruling."

Mrs May's Government said in a statement it was disappointed by the
court's judgement.

"The country voted to leave the European Union in a referendum approved
by Act of Parliament. And the Government is determined to respect the
result of the referendum," it said.

The Government said it would appeal against the decision and Britain's
Supreme Court has set aside December 5 to 8 to deal with the matter.

In theory, parliament could block Brexit altogether, but few people
expect that outcome, given that the British people voted by 52 to 48 per
cent to leave the EU in a referendum in June.

However, the ruling makes the already daunting task of taking Britain
out of a club it joined 43 years ago even more complex.

It also puts at risk Mrs May's own deadline of starting formal
negotiations on the terms of Brexit. Ruling underlines 'chaos and
confusion' in UK Government

After the High Court ruling, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn called for
greater transparency on the terms of Brexit.

"Labour respects the decision of the British people to leave the
European Union. But there must be transparency and accountability to
parliament on the terms of Brexit," he said. What does the Court ruling
mean?

The High Court has decided the British Government cannot trigger Brexit
— what happens now?

Meanwhile, Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the "hugely
significant" ruling underlined the "chaos" and "confusion" at the heart
of the British Government's push to leave.

"We should remember that their refusal to allow a vote in the House of
Commons is not because of some matter of high constitutional principle,
it is because they don't have a coherent position and they know that if
they take their case to the (chamber) that will be exposed," she said.

The historic case was brought by an entrepreneur and a hairdresser who
argued that the Government alone did not have the power to trigger the
Brexit process.

"The result today is about all of us, it's not about me or my team ...
it's about our United Kingdom and all our futures," entrepreneur Gina
Miller, one of the claimants, said.

MPs largely voted to remain in the EU in the June referendum.

Nigel Farage, head of the anti-EU party UKIP, said on Twitter that he
feared the ruling could turn into an attempt to scupper Brexit altogether.

Sterling soars after UK court gives Parliament power to block Brexit To:
Peter Mailstar <peter@mailstar.net>

(3) Sterling soars after UK court gives Parliament power to block Brexit

https://www.rt.com/business/365199-pound-grows-sterling-ruling/

Sterling soars after UK court gives Parliament power to block Brexit

Published time: 3 Nov, 2016 11:08 Edited time: 3 Nov, 2016 12:44

The British pound had its biggest rise since August after the UK High
Court ruled the government must hold a Parliamentary vote before Prime
Minister Theresa May triggers Article 50 to begin the two-year exit from
the European Union.

"The news sent the pound roaring through $1.24 before gains were pared
as markets digest the news – the fact is no one really knows what the
implications of this decision are yet. An appeal is coming in early
December, so this is not final. The pound was last at $1.2432, its
highest level in almost a month," Neil Wilson, of ETX Capital told the
Guardian.

     BRB, just watching the pound rise in realtime on the Bloomberg
terminal in response to the Article 50 news. pic.twitter.com/XMLSQ76qgO
     — Nate Lanxon (@NateLanxon) November 3, 2016

Trade Secretary Liam Fox said the government would have to wait for an
appeal before it rolls out new plans for the Article 50 legal process.

"When we are clear about the position we will adopt, then Article 50
will be triggered, but given the nature of the judgment this morning we
will now have to wait for the government's appeal to the Supreme Court,"
Fox told parliament on Thursday.

The Supreme Court has set aside December 5-8 to deal with the matter.

"It does shift the odds somewhat that the process is going to be delayed
and given that Brexit is the issue that has weighed on the pound, it
means there’s a bit of a relief rally on that," John Hardy, head of
foreign exchange strategy at Saxo Bank in Denmark told Bloomberg.

Since the UK voted to leave the EU on June 23, the British pound has
plummeted nearly 20 percent against the US dollar, consistently hitting
30-year lows throughout the period.

The weak pound has unveiled unpleasant surprises for British consumers,
like rising prices, especially in technology. Apple customers in the UK
will have to pay as much as 16 percent more for new iPhone models
compared to older versions.

In October, Britain's biggest supermarket, Tesco briefly removed some
Unilever products during a price dispute. The consumer goods
multinational had been trying to raise the prices it charges the
country’s four biggest supermarket chains – Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and
Morrisons.

Switzerland’s Nestle said it is also looking at increasing prices in the
UK, following the steep decline of sterling.

At the same time a weak currency helps British exports. EY (formerly
Ernst & Young) expects UK exports will increase by 3.4 percent in 2017,
spurred by the cheap pound.

On Thursday, the Bank of England (BOE) maintained the key interest rate
at a record low 0.25 percent. The bank also kept government bond
purchases at £435 billion and corporate bond purchases at £10 billion.

The regulator also sees inflation in the UK spiking sharply over the
next two years, hitting 2.7 percent in a year’s time and 2.83 percent in
the second quarter of 2018.

The BOE also upgraded its forecast on the British economy, saying it is
now more likely to grow 2.2 percent this year rather than the two
percent it had predicted earlier. At the same time the regulator slashed
the 2018 forecast to assumed growth of 1.5 percent from 1.8 percent.