Top Judge accuses High Court of ignoring the will of the people by dismissing EU vote as a ‘footnote’

JUDGES have been accused of turning a blind eye to the will of the British people by "dismissing" the EU referendum result as a simple "political event".

The attack will come in the Government’s appeal to the Supreme Court over its ruling that ­Theresa May must give MPs a say before starting divorce proceedings from the EU.

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Judges sparked anger last month by issuing the decision over triggering Article 50, which will set the clock running on Brexit.

The Government’s top legal officer says the judges are “divorced from the reality” of how modern states operate.

Attorney General Jeremy Wright said the High Court had been “wrong to relegate, almost to a footnote, the outcome of the referendum”.

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Mr Wright said the case could not “be resolved in a vacuum, without regard to the outcome of the referendum”.

There are fears the judgment could end up delaying Brexit — and Mr Wright will warn that if the original decision is upheld it would undermine the ability of the Government to sign treaties.

Eleven Supreme Court judges will hear the Government’s appeal over four days from Monday, which is due to be televised in full.

But no final decision on the case, said to be the most important in Britain for a generation, is expected until the new year.

The original case was brought to the High Court by millionaire hedge fund manager Gina Miller following the referendum result.

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She argued the Prime Minister should not be able to invoke Article 50 without Parliament’s agreement because, by leaving the EU, Britons would lose out on rights which had been passed by Parliament.

The three High Court judges, including the Lord Chief Justice, ruled in her favour.

On the day of the ruling a spokeswoman for Theresa May said: “We have no intention of letting this derail our timetable in getting on with triggering Article 50 in the time frame we have set out.

“What matters is doing what is in Britain’s national interest. That doesn’t mean setting out all your cards on the table as you go into negotiation with 27 other countries.”

Brexit Secretary David Davis insisted the Government does not need MPs’ permission because the 17.4million people who voted Leave in the Referendum had already given it “the biggest mandate in history