Get Your Act Together: Key Anti-Brexit Campaigner Tells MPs

Paris, Jan 17 (AFP) - Gina Miller may be one of Britain's most prominent anti-Brexit campaigners, but even her enemies agree with her on one point: the woeful inability of British politicians to find a way out of this mess.

The businesswoman, who shot to fame for successfully challenging Theresa May's government in court, sees little cause for optimism in one of the most tumultuous weeks since the 2016 referendum. Britain, she fears, is hurtling towards a crash-exit from the EU without an agreement after parliament overwhelmingly rejected May's divorce deal on Tuesday.

"It is a historic moment, but I'm afraid I don't think anything has changed," Miller told AFP during a visit to Paris on Thursday to address the French Senate's Brexit committee.

"As much as you celebrate the fact that Mrs May's deal has managed to unite both leavers and remainers against it, there is still no option that appears to have enough of a majority to get through parliament," she said.

It was Miller, a Guyana-born former model and founder of an investment company, who won a court ruling in 2016 forcing May to consult parliament before firing the Brexit starting gun.

After becoming a despised figure among hardline Brexiteers, she says she still believes it is lawmakers who should play the key role in deciding what happens next.

"Depending on which paper or media you read, I'm either the most hated woman in Britain or I'm standing up for democracy and sovereignty -- which is a thing lots of Brexiteers wanted, ironically," she said with a smile.

"Parliamentarians are paid to resolve the issues of our constitution and our international relationships, our future and our policies, and that's what they should be doing." In September, Miller launched the "End the Chaos" website which aims to offer a "trusted source of information" for people to decide for themselves on Brexit.

She backs the idea of a repeat referendum, but only as a last resort.

"If there is no other option and you're faced with no deal, if parliament can't make up their minds then it has to go back to the people to give them direction," she insisted. AFP

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)