Top EU court says UK can unilaterally revoke Brexit

The European Union's top court has ruled that Britain can change its mind over Brexit, boosting the hopes of people who want to stay in the EU that the process can be reversed.

The European Court of Justice ruled Monday that when an EU member country has notified its intent to leave, "that Member State is free to revoke unilaterally that notification."

Britain voted in 2016 to leave the 28-nation bloc, and invoked Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty in March 2017, triggering a two-year exit process.

Article 50 contains few details, in part because the idea of any country leaving was considered unlikely.

A group of Scottish legislators had asked the ECJ to rule on whether the U.K. can pull out of the withdrawal procedure on its own.

Prime Minister Theresa May warned on Sunday that parliament’s rejection of her Brexit deal could leave Britain in the EU and bring the opposition Labour Party to power.

The embattled leader’s message came with her government fearing a heavy defeat on Tuesday of the draft withdrawal agreement she signed with Brussels in November.

Media reports said May was under pressure from her cabinet to delay the vote and fly to Brussels to secure more concessions ahead of a summit with 27 fellow EU leaders on Thursday and Friday.

But Brexit secretary Stephen Barclay told the BBC: "The vote is going ahead."

May said Britain "would truly be in uncharted waters" if the draft, struck after nearly two years of tough talks, is voted down less than four months before March 29, 2019, Brexit date.

"It would mean grave uncertainty for the nation with a very real risk of no Brexit," she said on Sunday.

"We have a leader of the opposition who thinks of nothing but attempting to bring about a general election, no matter what the cost to the country ... I believe Jeremy Corbyn getting his hands on power is a risk we cannot afford to take."

Her comments on Sunday are aimed at tamping down

the Conservative Party revolt led by the likes of her former foreign minister Boris Johnson.

Johnson used a column in the Sun on Sunday to argue that "the best way to get a great deal is to prepare for no deal" by "rejecting" May’s draft.