Soon-to-be Aberdeen LLM student writes to the Prime Minister to tell her why Article 50 notification is illegal

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By Katie King on

He thinks Brexit should be ‘terminated’, at least until the UK and EU courts consider his letter

An NHS doctor turned future University of Aberdeen masters student has written to Theresa May to tell her that her Article 50 notification is “unlawful”.

Andrew Watt, a radiologist from Glasgow who is planning to start his LLM this year, told Legal Cheek he has “major concerns” about Brexit and wants to stop it “completely”.

In his quest to do so, Watt — who is particularly interested in researching Brexit and the UK constitution — told us he sent the Prime Minister a letter in which he says:

Stated bluntly, I believe [the Article 50 notification] is unlawful… To mitigate the potential huge damage to UK businesses, academic institutions and other entities I believe that the United Kingdom’s unlawful attempt at exiting the European Union must be terminated forthwith.

Relying on a series of complex constitutional law arguments, which can be read in full below, Watt concludes May’s triggering of Article 50 may amount to misconduct in public office, a criminal offence. Speaking to Legal Cheek this morning, Watt continued:

Until UK and European courts examine the arguments I put to the Prime Minister it seems to me to be at least questionable whether Brexit can be carried to completion.

However, May calling a general election has proved a bit of a bump in the road for Watt. For starters, he’s concerned the meeting he scheduled with his MP, Stuart Donaldson, to discuss the letter may now have to be cancelled. He continued:

Since I wrote to her, the Prime Minister has called a general election with the intention of removing uncertainty regarding how Brexit is carried forward. My view is that the Prime Minister’s aim is doomed to fail due to the purported Article 50 notification being unlawful.

You can read the letter in full here:

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