Hilarious Tweet Perfectly Captures the Latest Fight About Brexit
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Voters in the United Kingdom chose to leave the European Union in June through a national referendum vote, but they probably won't have the final word. On Thursday, Her Majesty's High Court of Justice ruled that leaving the EU requires a vote by Parliament.
Brexit, a phrase commonly used to describe Britain leaving the EU, doesn't legally start until the government triggers Article 50. The High Court ruled that Prime Minister Theresa May cannot put Article 50 into motion without a vote from Parliament in favor of that decision, according to the Telegraph.
"The court does not accept the argument put forward by the government," read the decision. "There is nothing in the text of the 1972 Act to support it."
The prime minister's office plans to file an appeal, according to the Guardian.
A funny tweet by U.K. comedian Tony Cowards perfectly explained the ongoing Brexit debate.
He compared the Brexit to a bad argument with a spouse.
Twitter/@TonyCowards - twitter.com
The back and forth about Brexit.
In June, 52 percent of referendum voters chose a Brexit, the common phrase for leaving the the EU, but the decision remains controversial. Contrary to early reports about low voter turnout, 64 percent of 18 to 24 year olds voted, but many younger voters were still unhappy with the result of the referendum, according to the Guardian.
Polling researchers Michael Bruter, a professor of political science and European politics, and Sarah Harrison, from the London School of Economics, wrote that young voters are important in the discussion about Brexit, according to the Guardian.
"... there continues to be a significant proportion of younger voters who say that they are unhappy with the result of the referendum and want to be heard, and one of the key arguments that has been made in answer to them is that they should have bothered to vote if they cared that much. And, second, because the government chose not to give the right to vote to 16- and 17-year-olds in the referendum. It is fair to ask whether allowing them to vote could have changed the result of the referendum or not.”
The majority of voters in Scotland, which is a part of the U.K., voted to remain in the EU.
The referendum decision renewed calls for Scotland to seek independence. Now Scottish government officials are considering whether to join the legal fight to block the Brexit, according to the Guardian.
In June, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump even jumped into the debate in Scotland. He praised the referendum results while touring his Scottish golf resort. He said that British people voted to leave the EU because they're angry about broken borders and want to "take their country back."
“People are angry. All over the world they're angry," he said.
Prime Minister Theresa May plans to trigger Article 50 in March, however the new court decision could complicate that plan.
After the news broke on the High Court's decision, people on Twitter discussed the chaos of the Brexit debate.
After this decision, British politicians and analysts say that, barring a successful appeal, a British general election is likely in 2017, according to The New York Times. The Brexit debate continues.
