The bombshell court ruling which has bogged down Britain's exit from the EU in a legal quagmire has sparked a row over how UK judges are appointed.

The Lord Chief Justice, Baron Thomas of Cwmgiedd, alongside Sir Terence Etherton and Lord Justice Sales, ruled that the Prime Minister does not have power to trigger Article 50 to start the two-year Brexit process.

The unelected trio were today accused of 'striking down the will of the people to set in train leaving the EU'.

Ukip politicians branded the ruling 'judicial activism' and called for a system which would allow judges to be sacked.

Baron Thomas of Cwmgiedd was one of three judges behind today's Brexit ruling, which found Theresa May does not have the power to trigger the process of leaving the EU

He was aided by 'Master of the Rolls' Sir Terence Etherton (left) and Lord Justice Sales (right)

Ukip leadership candidate Suzanne Evans said: 'How dare these activist judges attempt to overturn our will? It's a power grab and undermines democracy. Time we had the right to sack them.'

Ukip donor Arron Banks, co-chairman of the Leave.EU campaign, asked: 'Why wouldn't unelected judges want to preserve an EU system where unelected elites like themselves are all-powerful?'

In explaining the judges' decision today, Lord Thomas insisted they were concerned with 'a pure question of law' and were not expressing any view about the merits of leaving the European Union, which is, he said 'a political issue'.

Lord Thomas was a founding member of the European Law Institute, which says it works towards the 'enhancement of European legal integration'.

He was also President of the European Network of Councils for the Judiciary from May 2008 to December 2010.

But the judge has previously been critical of European judges. In 2014, in a judgement on whole-life tariffs, he said Strasbourg had been wrong in law to rule that such sentences were in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The judge was handed the job of leading the judiciary in 2013, beating off a strong field including Sir Brian Leveson, who ran the inquiry into press standards.

Lord Thomas's career as a judge was built in the commercial wing of the High Court before he became a Lord Justice of Appeal, overseeing criminals' claims of miscarriages of justice.

Lord Thomas is the founding member of a European Law Institute, which works towards 'European legal integration'. Sir Terence Etherton is a former Olympian

Lord Thomas was also one of the judges who presided over the final hearings last year that sent terror suspect Abu Hamza for trial in the US.

THE LORD CHIEF JUSTICE Lord Thomas was born in Wales and was educated at Cambridge and the University of Chicago before being called the bar in 1969. He became an assistant judge 1984 and rose through the judicial system, becoming the UK's most senior judge in 2013. According to Who's Who, he married his wife Elizabeth in 1973, has two children and enjoys gardens and walking. Advertisement

Cambridge-educated Lord Thomas, 69, was part of a team of judges who negotiated Tony Blair's constitution reforms of the mid-2000s.

Mr Blair's decision to scrap the ancient role of Lord Chancellor inside government left the Lord Chief Justice as leader of and spokesman for judges, as well as the senior judge in deciding the interpretation of criminal law.

When he was later appointed to the role, Lord Thomas said the judiciary would 'continue to become more reflective of our diverse society.

'It will also continue to play a constructive role in its relationships with Government, Parliament and the media.' Lord Thomas said.

Lord Thomas was assisted in making today's historic decision by two other senior judges; Sir Terence Etherton and Lord Justice Sales.

Gina Miller, who brought the case against the government, walks from the High Court today

Master of the Rolls Sir Terence Etherton, 65, is the second most senior judge in England and Wales, after Lord Thomas.

He made legal history almost a decade ago when he became the first openly gay judge to be made a Lord Justice of Appeal, The Guardian reported.

SIR TERENCE ETHERTON Sir Terence Etherton studied at St Paul's School in London before Cambridge and was in the British sabre team before becoming a lawyer. He was called to the Bar in 1974 and was appointed a High Court Judge in 2001 before taking on the role of Master of the Rolls in 2016. He entered a civil partnership with Andrew Stone in 2006, which was converted to a marriage in 2014. Advertisement

Lord Justice Sales, 54, meanwhile usually sits in the Court of Appeal and is a former First Treasury Counsel, representing the UK government in the civil courts.

He was criticised for charging the taxpayer £3.3million in his first six years in the job from 1997.

Sir Terence Etherton was called to the Bar in 1974 and became a QC in 1990. He was appointed a High Court Judge in 2001 before becoming a Lord Justice of Appeal in 2008.

He said his appointment 'shows that diversity in sexuality is not a bar to preferment up to the highest levels of the judiciary'.

He entered a civil partnership in 2006 and in 2014, after a change in the law, he and partner Andrew Stone were married in a traditional Jewish wedding ceremony at West London Synagogue.

Sir Terence, who studied history and law at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, was in the British sabre team from 1977 to 1980 and qualified for the 1980 summer Olympics in Moscow. He boycotted the games in protest against the USSR's invasion of Afghanistan.

Today's ruling is a huge blow to Theresa May (pictured last night) in her plans to exit the EU

The Master of the Rolls - a position which dates back to at least the 13th century - is the head of civil justice and the second most senior judge - after the Lord Chief Justice - in England and Wales.

LORD JUSTICE SALES Sir Philip Sales attended the Royal Grammar School in Guildford before studying at both Oxford and Cambridge. He was called to the Bar in 1985 before becoming First Junior Treasury Counsel, fighting cases for the government, in 1997. According to Who's Who, he married his wife Miranda in 1988 and they have two children. His interests are listed as theatre and film. Advertisement

Sir Philip Sales, who studied at both Oxford and Cambridge, was called to the bar in 1985 and was made First Treasury Counsel - also known as 'Treasury Devil' - in 1997.

His appointment led to claims of cronyism, with critics pointing out he was previously in the same chambers the then-Lord Chancellor Lord Irvine of Lairg.

In the year he finished in the role, 2009, London's Evening Standard revealed that he had charged up to £619,000 a year for fighting the government's corner.

The figures led to calls from, among others, former minister Vince Cable, to reform the system for how top government lawyers were able to claim private practice rates.