High Court blocks latest legal challenge to leaving the EU – which would have fought for a ‘soft Brexit’ to keep Britain in the European Economic Area

A FRESH challenge to Brexit was blocked by the High Court this morning – in a blow to Remoaners who wanted us to stay in the EU’s Single Market.

Theresa May will breathe a sigh of relief after judges rejected arguments that there should be ANOTHER vote in Parliament before the UK can come out of the European Economic Area.

The case focused around triggering Article 127 of the European Economic Area agreement (EEA), which allows non-EU members the same freedoms as those available to EU members.

The EEA gives countries access to the Single Market – but in return they must allow free movement of people and implement some EU laws. Norway, Iceland and Lichetenstein have this special status.

Lawyers argued that MPs need to give their permission before taking us out of the area – but judges refused to give it the green light.

Judges listened to the case for just 45 minutes. They took only three minutes to come to their conclusion to turn down the application for a judicial review.

They said that because there was no final decision on how the UK will leave the EEA, they could not rule on it. The Brexit challengers warned that the door has been “firmly left ajar” for future proceedings.

James Eadie QC, representing Brexit Secretary David Davis, had argued that the application was “premature” because nothing on the EEA had yet been decided by the Government – and therefore it was not open to challenge.

He said: “The court is being invited to embark on an exercise which is discretionary in an area which raises a series of thoroughly controversial issues where you would have to speculate as to which of these contingencies was or was not going to be in play and what the legal consequences might be.”

The Single Market Justice campaign argued that the UK does not have to leave the EEA immediately after Brexit – and this would only happen if the UK formally withdraws.

Mr Davis previously said that membership of the EEA will cease when we complete our EU exit – as the UK is only part of the area as an EU member.

The Brexit challengers include Peter Wilding – chairman of the pro-Europe lobby group British Influence, and Conservative lobbyist Adrian Yalland.

They were joined by a second set of claimants who have been identified only by the letters W, L, T and B – because they don’t want to be subjected to the abuse that Gina Miller was during the Supreme Court case.

They wanted a declaration that it would be unlawful for the Prime Minister to force the UK to leave the EEA without prior Parliamentary authorisation through an Act of Parliament, and the serving of a withdrawal notice under Article 127.

They said the Government has no mandate to take the UK out of the Single Market and EEA – because it wasn’t on the ballot paper.

The Prime Minister confirmed earlier this month that Britain would be leaving the Single Market after we leave the EU – but she would fight for the best “access” to it.

Mr Yalland said ahead of the case: “I voted to leave the EU but Parliament did not intend the referendum to cover the issue of membership of the EEA.”

He added: “Parliament, not government, took us into the treaty and so parliament, not government, must decide if and when we leave…

“The government should stop seeking to stretch the mandate to leave the EU to cover things parliament did not intend the referendum to cover.”

In the Supreme Court hearing earlier this month, campaigner Gina Miller forced the Prime Minister to put a Brexit Bill to parliament and officially vote on triggering Article 50.

The Bill, which is currently going through the Commons before it must also be passed by the Lords – will allow her to trigger Brexit talks by the end of March.

A government spokesman said last month: “The UK is party to the EEA agreement only in its capacity as an EU member state. Once the UK leaves the EU, the EEA agreement will automatically cease to apply to the UK.”