Bitesized Blighty: November 4, 2016
Yesterday, the High Court ruled that Theresa May cannot trigger Article 50 (Brexit) without the approval of Parliament. The government has announced that it will take the case to the Supreme Court for appeal, where Theresa May has said she is confident of victory. There is speculation that the verdict will delay and complicate the process of the UK leaving the European Union, although it is unlikely it will stop Brexit.
Conservative MP Stephen Phillips stepped down from Parliament today due to 'irreconcilable differences' with the current government. The news comes following the High Court ruling (above). Phillip was a Brexiteer, but criticised the government’s approach to Brexit. He called May’s plans to begin EU negotiations without Parliamentary approval “divisive and plain wrong.”
You may have heard “Remember, remember, the fifth of November” before, but you might not know why! The annual celebration in the UK has become known as “Bonfire Night” or “Guy Fawkes” night and is an eventful evening of fireworks and bonfires where effigies are burned in memoriam. The occasion commemorates the failure of the November 1605 Gunpowder Plot by a gang of Roman Catholic activists. Guy (Guido) Fawkes and his fellow conspirators managed to smuggle 36 barrels of gunpowder into a cellar of the House of Lords – enough to completely destroy the Houses of Parliament – but the plot was foiled (hurray!). See the full story here! 