The lord chancellor, Liz Truss, has broken her silence on the high court’s Brexit ruling, saying the independence of the judiciary was the “foundation upon which our rule of law is built”.



Truss had come under pressure from barristers to condemn the “serious and unjustified” attacks on judges in the wake of the article 50 ruling on Thursday.

She said on Saturday: “The independence of the judiciary is the foundation upon which our rule of law is built and our judiciary is rightly respected the world over for its independence and impartiality. In relation to the case heard in the high court, the government has made it clear it will appeal to the supreme court. Legal process must be followed.”

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The shadow justice secretary, Richard Burgon, condemned Truss for failing to adequately stand up for the three judges who ruled against the government. “All Liz Truss has done is recite the well-known principle of the independence of the judiciary. [She] has still failed to condemn these attacks on the British judiciary as being ‘enemies of the people’ and talk in the press of the sexuality of a judge,” he said.

“I’m afraid that it’s far too little, far too late from Liz Truss. The last few days mean that much of the legal community now has no confidence in the lord chancellor to fulfil her statutory duty to protect the independence of the British judiciary.”

Earlier in the day the Bar Council, which represents barristers in England and Wales, urged Truss to defend the judiciary from the febrile media coverage – the three judges were condemned as “enemies of the people” by the Daily Mail – which former ministers said was poisoning public debate.

Chantal-Aimee Doerries QC, the Bar Council’s chair, emphasised that the judgment was not about the merits of leaving the EU, but rather the constitutional process of triggering article 50.

“It is the judiciary’s role to ensure the rule of law underpins our democratic system. Without it fulfilling this vital role, the people would have very limited scope to hold the government in power to account,” she said.

“Publicly criticising individual members of the judiciary over a particular judgment or suggesting that they are motivated by their individual views, political or otherwise, is wrong, and serves only to undermine their vital role in the administration of justice. It also does no favours to our global reputation.

“None of the parties suggested that the court did not have jurisdiction to decide the point at issue. They are simply doing their job – impartially ruling on a dispute between parties, one of whom happens to be the government in this instance.

“The right to appeal is there to challenge the court’s decision if a party feels they have grounds to do so. Whilst acknowledging that this question is one of potentially significant constitutional importance, the independent role of the court should be respected, particularly by those who disagree with the outcome.”

Politicians from all sides have condemned the attacks on the judiciary, which the former attorney general Dominic Grieve said were “chilling and outrageous” and “smacking of the fascist state”.



Hilary Benn, the Labour chair of the Commons Brexit select committee, said coverage such as the Mail’s was not helpful. He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the media and politicians had a responsibility not to attack those who had made the decision.

Ministers should remind their colleagues “that even if you don’t like the judgment, you have to respect it”, he said.

Bob Neill, the Conservative chairman of the justice select committee, said the attacks were “threatening the independence of our judiciary” and had “no place in a civilised land”.

Meanwhile, Jeremy Corbyn avoided questions about whether he would welcome an early election and accused the media of harassing him. In a speech to a leftwing thinktank in London on Saturday, the Labour leader said the prime minister must set out her Brexit negotiating terms to parliament without delay in the wake of the high court ruling.

“We accept and respect the decision to leave the European Union. But there must be transparency and accountability to parliament about the government’s plans,” Corbyn said. “I suspect the government opposes democratic scrutiny of its plans because – frankly – there aren’t any plans beyond the hollow rhetoric of ‘Brexit means Brexit’.”

Thursday’s legal ruling, which was followed by the resignation of the Tory MP Stephen Phillips, has fuelled speculation that May will seek a general election before 2020.

Corbyn refused to say whether he would be happy if there was an early election when asked by ITV. As aides intervened to stop further questions from the media, Corbyn walked away saying: “Can we go outside because we are being harassed here?”