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UK could change mind over Brexit even after Article 50 triggered, legal expert says

Legal experts claim the British government could reverse decision to leave EU - even after the process has been been initiated

Friday 22 July 2016 16:26 BST

Theresa May has been urged by German Chancellor Angela Merkel to invoke Article 50 without delay (Reuters)

The British government could decide against pursuing Brexit even after Article 50 has been invoked, a senior legal figure has said.

Article 50 is the formal notification Britain must give to the European Union to declare its intention to withdraw from the bloc and has been widely perceived as an irreversible process, which gives the departing state two years to exit.

But lawyers who have studied the law around Article 50 claimed Brexit may not be irrevocable after all after it is triggered, which the experts argue could give the UK more leverage in exit negotiations.

Angela Merkel insists Article 50 must be triggered before Brexit talks

Barrister Charles Streeten said a departing member state can change its mind at any time before the two year deadline expires.

"The benefits of this should not be underestimated. If I am right, Britain would have a much stronger hand to play in the EU negotiations," Mr Streeten told Reuters.

Another well-known firm has also recognised the potential loophole. Human rights lawyers Bindmans even wrote to the government’s lawyers requesting clarification on the issue.

"It would appear to be in the UK’s interests for that issue to be resolved before the Article 50 process is commenced," the firm said in their letter. The government did not comment.

6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you

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1/66 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you

6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you

More expensive foreign holidays

The first practical effect of a vote to Leave is that the pound will be worth less abroad, meaning foreign holidays will cost us more

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6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you

No immediate change in immigration status

The Prime Minister will have to address other immediate concerns. He is likely to reassure nationals of other EU countries living in the UK that their status is unchanged. That is what the Leave campaign has said, so, even after the Brexit negotiations are complete, those who are already in the UK would be allowed to stay

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6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you

Higher inflation

A lower pound means that imports would become more expensive. This is likely to mean the return of inflation – a phenomenon with which many of us are unfamiliar because prices have been stable for so long, rising at no more than about 2 per cent a year. The effect may probably not be particularly noticeable in the first few months. At first price rises would be confined to imported goods – food and clothes being the most obvious – but inflation has a tendency to spread and to gain its own momentum

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6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you

Interest rates might rise

The trouble with inflation is that the Bank of England has a legal obligation to keep it as close to 2 per cent a year as possible. If a fall in the pound threatens to push prices up faster than this, the Bank will raise interest rates. This acts against inflation in three ways. First, it makes the pound more attractive, because deposits in pounds will earn higher interest. Second, it reduces demand by putting up the cost of borrowing, and especially by taking larger mortgage payments out of the economy. Third, it makes it more expensive for businesses to borrow to expand output

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6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you

Did somebody say recession?

Mr Carney, the Treasury and a range of international economists have warned about this. Many Leave voters appear not to have believed them, or to think that they are exaggerating small, long-term effects. But there is no doubt that the Leave vote is a negative shock to the economy. This is because it changes expectations about the economy’s future performance. Even though Britain is not actually be leaving the EU for at least two years, companies and investors will start to move money out of Britain, or to scale back plans for expansion, because they are less confident about what would happen after 2018

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6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you

And we wouldn’t even get our money back

All this will be happening while the Prime Minister, whoever he or she is, is negotiating the terms of our future access to the EU single market. In the meantime, our trade with the EU would be unaffected, except that companies elsewhere in the EU may be less interested in buying from us or selling to us, expecting tariff barriers to go up in two years’ time. Whoever the Chancellor is, he or she may feel the need to bring in a new Budget

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However, the general consensus in Brussels is that Britain would need the approval of all other 27 member states to reverse Article 50.

Several legal challenges have already been lodged against Brexit. The first applicant to file challenge against Brexit in the courts was London hairdresser Deir Dos Santos, 37.

His lawyers argued that only Parliament has the power to decide the United Kingdom should withdraw from the EU.

As MPs have made no such decision, the lawyers said, Article 50 is not engaged at all and the royal prerogative cannot be used in any event.

Other applicants hoping to legally intervene in Brexit include Britons living in France campaigning as Fair Deal for Expats and individuals living in the UK who are anxious to secure guarantees for rights gained as EU citizens.

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