Lord Callanan, who was appointed a Brexit minister last month, has been forced to apologise for telling peers that Article 50 could not be revoked.
Last week, Callanan was asked to confirm whether in deciding the Gina Miller case the Supreme Court said Article 50 could not be revoked.
He told peers:
“I can confirm that. It is also stated by the European commission that article 50, once invoked, is irrevocable unless there is political agreement on it.”
However, Lord Kerr, the British diplomat credited with drafting Article 50, has repeated ona number of occasions that Article 50 could be unilaterally revoked by the British government.
Labour peer Andrew Adonis said he would be reporting Callanan to the parliamentary Privileges Committee for misleading peers and refusing to correct the record.
In response to Asonis’ threat, Callanan finally apologised today and in a statement to peers said that his previous statement was incorrect and a “misunderstanding of the question”.
He continued:
“To reiterate, for the avoidance of any doubt, the supreme court proceeded in the Miller case on the basis that article 50 would not be be revoked, but did not rule on the legal position regarding its irrevocability. It was, and remains, the government’s policy that our notification of article 50 will not be withdrawn…I recognise that my comments have caused confusion and I apologise to the House.”
Lord Kerr, the British diplomat credited with drafting article 50, has repeated said article 50 could be reversed.
