Guyana-born UK resident Gina Miller, co-founder of an investment management company, has made headlines after successfully leading a lawsuit that calls for members of Parliament to have a vote on Britain’s exit from the European Union.
On June 23, this year, 51.89% of British citizens voted in the United Kingdom (UK) European Union (EU) Membership Referendum or Brexit (British Exit) Referendum for the UK to leave the EU. The shocking outcome of that vote saw former prime minister David Cameron stepping down.
Britain is now scheduled to begin its exit in March, with the move facilitated by Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, but on Thursday the High Court ruled in favour of a group that challenged the legal process for leaving the EU.
The lawsuit petitions for Members of Parliament to have a vote on when the process should begin. The lead claimant in the suit was Miller.
“I simply couldn’t keep going to bed every night thinking, well what does [the Brexit vote] mean for my children, what does this mean for the future, what does it mean for everyone?” The Guardian quoted Miller as saying. “Knowing that there was no plan in place, and knowing that we were really facing a treacherous future … I just felt I had no other alternative,” Miller said.
A Financial Times report noted Miller’s position that if Article 50 is not triggered correctly, it creates legal uncertainty.
“Our case is very, very simple…it’s about the process. How do we create legal certainty? …If we start the process illegally what will that do to the process?” Miller stated. Her opinion is that a lapse now may affect Britain’s ability to negotiate on terms in the future.
Miller, 51, is a philanthropist, a lawyer by profession and daughter to Guyana’s former Attorney General Doodnauth Singh SC, now deceased. She, along with her husband, Alan Miller, have together founded Miller Philanthropy, launched the True and Fair Campaign, which, according to CNN, “aimed at cutting charges on ISAs [individual savings accounts] and rooting out dishonesty in the financial services industry,” and fund other charitable causes.
