Wednesday 01 February 2017 8:15 pm

Brexiteers slam Irish Article 50 case lawyer’s claims that people were misled

Brexiteers have hit back at a top tax lawyer bringing an Article 50 case in Ireland, who recently claimed his action's importance lay in the fact voters had been misled.

Jolyon Maugham filed a case in Ireland last week, seeking an answer on whether the UK can revoke its Article 50 process without the approval of the other 27 EU member states. He hopes to take the case to the European Court of Justice.

"I do think the people were misled," Maugham said in an interview with Reuters, which was published earlier this week. "What happens if the promises that Brexiteers made about sunlit uplands, extra money for the NHS (state-funded health service), no VAT (value-added sales tax) on domestic fuel, wonderful trade deals with the rest of the world — what happens if those come to nought?"

However, a number of Leave backers have taken issue with Maugham's comments, claiming the Remain camp was just as guilty of misleading the public in the run-up to the pivotal vote.

"He clearly doesn’t believe in democracy at any rate," said serial entrepreneur and investor Luke Johnson. "And talking about misleading people, what about Project Fear and the economic collapse threatened by the Remainers if we voted to leave?"

David Buik, market commentator at Panmure Gordon, added: "'Remainers', which included the government, the establishment and the Bank of England were bordering on hysterical in forecasting an economic Armageddon with mammoth unemployment. Both sides failed to support their argument."

Conservative MP Kwasi Kwarteng commented: "These guys have just got to get over it. We have had court cases and we are going to have a lot of debate but everybody knows the result of the referendum. But a dwindling minority of people in the legal and political worlds somehow think they can reverse the will of the people."

City PM has contacted Maugham for further comment, but has not received a response at time of writing.

Additional reporting by William Turvill