THE Supreme Court has ruled that the Government must consult Parliament before triggering Article 50 – the clause in the EU Treaty that will formally start the Brexit process.

Furthermore, it has ruled that nothing less than an Act of Parliament will do.

Yesterday’s decision was a resounding defeat for Theresa May’s vain attempt to throttle our parliamentary democracy.

It remains to be seen how much money the Government wasted in its bid to quash the democratic process.

The judges did not – as Iain Duncan Smith claimed – tell Parliament how to run its business but clarified what ministers were not allowed to do unilaterally.

That means that MPs and members of the House of Lords will get to vote on whether it happens.

Parliament has quite rightly been judged as the supreme decision-making body in the land with regards to the Brexit process and MPs now have a chance to debate the issues and to try to amend the bill as it passes through the various legislative stages.

Chief among those changes must be to write an amendment committing to a soft border with Ireland, which is urgent as the stability that Northern Ireland has enjoyed in recent years teeters on the brink of chaos.

If MPs have the guts to defy their party whips, they also have the chance to take a stand against the lies and fake economics that helped to secure the Brexit vote.

They can pressure the Government to salvage our participation in the single market and protect thousands of British jobs.

And why not seal the victory for democracy and give the British public a vote on the final Brexit deal? This would add genuine legitimacy to the whole process.

The judges have done their job – now it’s time for politicians to do theirs.