The UK can cancel Brexit, says the European Court of Justice, without having to get permission from the other 27 EU member states. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) judges ruled that the UK could do this without changing the terms of its membership.
A group of Remainer politicians had argued that Britain should be able to unilaterally stop and cancel Brexit. The EU and the British government, however, said they were wrong.
In the UK, there are Brexiteers and Remainers. Brexiteers want to leave the European Union. Remainers, on the other hand, want the UK to stay in the trading bloc.
The ECJ ruling came as Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May announced that she had postponed a Commons vote. MPs were to vote on whether they approved her Brexit deal. MP, in this context, stands for Member of Parliament (not Military Police).
#ECJ: UK is free to unilaterally revoke the notification of its intention to withdraw from the EU – Case C-621/18 Wightman #Brexit pic.twitter.com/KUOI2eQ48C
— EU Court of Justice (@EUCourtPress) December 10, 2018
What is BREXIT?
BREXIT stands for BRitain EXITing the European Union. The word is a combination of the beginning of the word BRitain and the word EXIT.
On 23rd June, 2016, there was a referendum in the UK. The electorate had to decide whether to remain in the EU or leave.
By a very narrow margin – 51.9% to 48.1% – Britons voted to leave. In other words, the electorate voted in favour of Brexit.
Some people who voted to leave regretted it afterwards. Subsequently a new term – BREGRET – emerged. BREGRET is a combination of BRitain, Exit, and reGRET. In other words, it means regret at having voted in favour of Brexit.