The Government has lost its historic battle in the Supreme Court over Brexit.

The highest court in the land rejected an appeal by ministers against a High Court judgment blocking their decision to begin Britain's exit from the European Union without Parliament having a say.

Supreme Court justices ruled, by a majority of eight to three, that Prime Minister Theresa May cannot lawfully bypass MPs and peers by using the royal prerogative to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty and start the two-year process of negotiating the UK's divorce from its EU partners.

Alex Mayer, Labour MEP for the East of England, has welcomed the decision of the Supreme Courtt.

Ms Mayer said: "For a process that was supposedly to be about taking back control, it is telling that the very first step by the Government was to try and by-pass Parliament in Westminster.

"What a waste of taxpayers money by the Government to appeal the High Court decision.

"We then had the ridiculous farce of Leave campaigners criticising the decision of a UK court that will become the ultimate arbiter of UK law.

"This decision means that Parliament can have a proper democratic debate about the triggering of Article 50 and the Tories’ destructive plans for the exit negotiations.

“Members of Parliament will be able to hold Theresa May accountable for her decision to dump the UK out of the single market which was never on the table during the referendum debate.

“The parliamentary process will highlight the Tories’ lack of plans to protect jobs and the economy and show that the Tories are still playing politics with our prosperity”.

The ruling is a blow to Mrs May, who has repeatedly said she intends to trigger Article 50 by the end of March following the clear majority in favour of Brexit in the June 2016 referendum.