MPs in Britain’s parliament and not the government should trigger Article 50 to begin Brexit negotiations, the UK’s Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday, backing an earlier decision by the High Court.

Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative government lost its appeal on Tuesday against a surprise High Court decision in November that ruled the government could not trigger Brexit negotiations without the backing of MPs in parliament.

The ruling by 11 justices resolved once and for all the row over who has the right to trigger Article 50 and start Brexit negotiations.

Lord Neuburger read out the ruling at around 9.30 to a packed court room. He revealed that judges ruled by a majority of 8 to 3 that the government could not trigger Article 50 to begin Brexit negotiations without the backing of parliament.”

So MPs will now get the chance to vote.

Reacting to the verdict the main complainant against the government Gina Miller said: “Only parliament can grant rights to British people and only parliament can take them away…Parliament alone is sovereign.”

A spokesman for a group representing expats was also “delighted and relieved” with the ruling.

“We are the people most profoundly affected by all of this,” he said. “Everything that British citizens take for granted rests on being EU citizens.”

In a separate decision however judges ruled the government did not have to consult parliaments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland before triggering Article 50.

More: