A crowd-funded campaign that has forced the government to consult Parliament on Article 50 is now calling for a white paper on Brexit.
The People’s Challenge worked alongside Gina Miller and other interested parties to force the government to back down over its plan to trigger Article 50 without prior parliamentary approval.
On Tuesday morning, the Supreme Court ruled 8-3 that the government must first be authorised by an act of Parliament.
Grahame Pigney, the founder of the campaign, said: “It is absolutely great we have now got Parliament back in control, rather than decisions taken in some secret room in Whitehall.
“If this had been overturned it would have taken us back to 1687, before the Bill of Rights.”
Pigney, whose campaign has raised more than £100,000, is now plannign a second campaign. He said: “The first step should be for a white paper to be brought before Parliament for debate.” The demand has also been made by the Exiting the European Union select committee.
The “Second People’s Challenge” aims to pool legal knowledge with like-minded campaigners and protect MPs “against bullying and populist rhetoric”.
The white paper should state “what the Brexit objectives are, how (factually) they would benefit the UK, and what must happen if they are not achieved”.
The campaign will also aim to fund a Europe-facing charm offensive, with “a major effort” to ensure politicians in EU countries understand that public opinion is “not universally in favour of ‘Brexit at any price’”.
Pigney, like Miller, has always maintained that he is motivated by the principle of parliamentary sovereignty, rather than a bid to stop Brexit per se.
In an interview with The Staggers, he said: “One of the things that has characterised this government is they want to keep everything secret.”
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