Parliament’s Remain backers will fall into line and not wreck Theresa May’s Brexit timetable despite bombshell legal ruling, Jeremy Hunt claims
Shock legal ruling means PM needs approval of MPs and Lords, prompting fears Brexit process could be delayed
PARLIAMENT will fall into line and not block the start of Brexit divorce talks with the European Union, Jeremy Hunt has claimed.
The shock legal ruling on Thursday means Theresa May will need the approval of MPs and Lords before she can trigger Article 50, prompting fears those who backed Remain may seek to delay the process.
Nigel Farage said he was worried the House of Commons would tie the Prime Minister’s hands and make her agree to staying in the Single Market, something he called a “half-Brexit”.
But the Health Secretary played down the chances of this happening, and also dampened speculation unrest over Brexit will lead to an early general election, insisting it was the "last thing" voters wanted.
It comes after Jeremy Corbyn appeared to suggest in an interview with a Sunday newspaper that he would block plans to trigger Article 50 if the Prime Minister did not guarantee access to Single Market.
Labour sources later insisted that the party's support for invoking the process was "unconditional" and they would only "seek to amend or influence" the Government's negotiating strategy.
Mr Hunt told BBC One's The Andrew Marr Show: "The impact on the economy will be far worse if through some Parliamentary mechanism Theresa May is forced to lay out her entire negotiating strategy.
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He said: "The Government has said that it's highly likely that Parliament would ratify any deal that was agreed about the terms of our exit.”
And the Cabinet Minister told the programme he had been a Remainer until June 23. "After that I became a democrat," he said.
"For people worried about the impact of Brexit on the economy or whatever else it is, the damage to the fabric of our democracy would be far, far worse if people felt the establishment was trying to unpick a decision that was made."
"I think a general election is frankly the last thing the Government wants.
"Theresa May wants to get on with the job and frankly it is the last thing the British people want, with all these very, very important national decisions.
"Because of that I think it is highly unlikely that Parliament would not, in the end, back a decision to trigger Article 50."
Mr Hunt also defended the right of newspapers to criticise the judges behind the High Court ruling that ordered Mrs May to seek approval from Parliament over triggering Article 50.
The Daily Mail faced a backlash for a front page featuring the trio under the headline "enemies of the people".
Mr Hunt said: "There are plenty of times when I haven't liked the tone of the Daily Mail, there are plenty of times I don't like the tone of the BBC but that is democracy.
"I would defend to the hilt the right of newspapers within the law to write what they like and to criticise politicians."