Yahoo – AFP,
Alice Ritchie, January 24, 2017
 |
| Gina Miller, co-founder of investment fund SCM Private (C), is a key plaintiff in a case to decide whether or not parliamentary approval is needed before the government can begin Brexit negotiations, outside the Supreme Court in central London on January 24, 2017. (AFP Photo/Isabel INFANTES) |
London
(AFP) - The Supreme Court ruling Tuesday that parliament must approve the start
of Brexit is in many ways a victory for one woman, Gina Miller, who has endured
death threats and racial abuse for bringing the case.
Addressing
journalists outside court after the judgment, the 51-year-old businesswoman
thanked her supporters for holding fast in the face of "extraordinary and
unwarranted criticism".
"In
Britain, we are lucky -- we are fortunate to have the ability to voice
legitimate concerns and views as part of a shared society," she said.
"I
have therefore been shocked at the levels of personal abuse that I have
received from many quarters over the last seven months for simply bringing and
asking a legitimate question.
"I
sincerely hope that going forward people who stand in positions of power and
profile are much quicker in condemning those who cross the lines of common
decency and mutual respect."
Several
people launched legal challenges against the government after last June's shock
referendum vote to leave the European Union, arguing that the outcome was only
"advisory" and needed further legislation.
But Miller
became the lead claimant with her case that ministers could not start the
process without parliament's approval.
In doing
so, she became a target for nationalists who claimed it was intended to stop
Brexit.
She has
been pilloried in the media, sent hate mail and death threats that forced her
to hire bodyguards.
At
weekends, she now stays close to home with her husband and three children.
"There
is no doubt that Brexit is the most divisive issue of a generation, but this
case was about the legal process, not politics," Miller said Tuesday.
She said
the ruling went "to the very heart of our constitution", confirming
that "only parliament can grant rights to the British people and only
parliament can take them away".
Now the
head of an investment fund in London, Miller grew up in British Guiana, now
Guyana, the daughter of the attorney general.
She had
previously launched a campaign to bring more transparency to financial investments,
and has a strong sense of social justice.
The
government is now expected to bring forward emergency legislation authorising
it to trigger Article 50, the EU mechanism starting Brexit negotiations, by the
end of March.
Miller said
Tuesday that it was right MPs help "select the best course in the
forthcoming Brexit negotiations, negotiations that will frame our place in the
world and all our destinies to come".
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