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Gina Miller: Who is campaigner behind Brexit court cases? Gina Miller: Who is campaigner behind Brexit court cases?
(about 20 hours later)
Gina Miller is the businesswoman and campaigner who has twice led legal challenges against the government and won.Gina Miller is the businesswoman and campaigner who has twice led legal challenges against the government and won.
Her first victory came in September 2017 when the Supreme Court ruled in favour of giving MPs a say over triggering Article 50 - the legal mechanism taking the UK out of the EU. Her first victory came in September 2017, when the Supreme Court ruled in favour of giving MPs a say over triggering Article 50 - the legal mechanism taking the UK out of the EU.
Her second came on Tuesday, when the Supreme Court ruled that Boris Johnson's decision to suspend Parliament was unlawful.Her second came on Tuesday, when the Supreme Court ruled that Boris Johnson's decision to suspend Parliament was unlawful.
Her success in the courts has come at a price - she has become a hate figure for many Brexit supporters and has had to employ round-the-clock security after threats to her life.Her success in the courts has come at a price - she has become a hate figure for many Brexit supporters and has had to employ round-the-clock security after threats to her life.
She claims not to be motivated by blocking Brexit - but to be standing up for Parliamentary democracy. She says she does not want to block Brexit, but is standing up for Parliamentary democracy.
'Lioness' Speaking outside the Supreme Court after the ruling on Tuesday, she said: "Today is not a win for any individual or cause, it's a win for Parliamentary sovereignty, the separation of powers and the independence of our British courts.
Mrs Miller is not officially aligned to any political party, having spurned the advances of the Liberal Democrats, after giving a rapturously received speech at their 2018 party conference. "Crucially, this ruling confirms that we are a nation governed by the rule of law."
A 51-year-old investment manager and philanthropist, Mrs Miller was born in Guyana but educated in Britain. Mrs Miller is not officially aligned to any political party, having spurned the advances of the Liberal Democrats, who rapturously received a speech she gave at their 2018 party conference.
A 54-year-old investment manager and philanthropist, Mrs Miller was born in Guyana and educated in Britain.
She went first to an exclusive all-girls private boarding school, Roedean, on the outskirts of Brighton, at the age of 10, then to Moira House Girls' School, in Eastbourne, East Sussex.She went first to an exclusive all-girls private boarding school, Roedean, on the outskirts of Brighton, at the age of 10, then to Moira House Girls' School, in Eastbourne, East Sussex.
She then went to university in London to study law. Afterwards, she studied law at the University of East London, but left before completing her degree.
Mrs Miller married her first husband at 20. They had a daughter, who has special needs, and who Mrs Miller has described as an "inspiration" and who "turned me into a lioness". 'Black widow spider'
In the early 1990s, she set up her own marketing company, divorced her first husband and married the financier Jon Maguire. Mrs Miller went on to start a successful marketing consultancy business with clients including private medical specialists in Harley Street in London.
Her marriage to Mr Maguire, who stood for the anti-EU English Democrats in the 2010 election, did not last and they divorced in 2002. In 2009, she used the money she had made in marketing to co-found an investment firm supporting smaller charities.
She married her third husband, hedge fund manager Alan Miller, in 2005 and they had two children. "I realised then it was my money, I could do what I wanted with it and so I used that money to get involved in social justice," Mrs Miller told Unfiltered with James O'Brien last year.
Pension fund transparency And in 2012, the businesswoman began the True and Fair Campaign, which campaigned for greater transparency in the City of London's fund management industry.
Before Brexit, Mrs Miller was best known for having campaigned for transparency in investment and pension funds.
In 2009, she co-founded the investment firm SCM Private and launched True and Fair Foundation - formerly known as Miller Philanthropy - with her husband.
The foundation said it supported smaller charities by providing funding and support.
It ceased operations last year, with a report from trustees saying it was felt the charity had met its original objectives.
Mrs Miller also began the True and Fair Campaign in 2012, which campaigns against mis-selling and hidden fund charges in the City of London's fund management industry.
According to an interview with the Financial Times in 2016, this led some in the industry to label her the "black widow spider".According to an interview with the Financial Times in 2016, this led some in the industry to label her the "black widow spider".
Speaking about a time she asked three men at an industry party why they were staring at her, she told the paper: "One of them replied that I was a disgrace and that my lobbying efforts would bring down the entire City."Speaking about a time she asked three men at an industry party why they were staring at her, she told the paper: "One of them replied that I was a disgrace and that my lobbying efforts would bring down the entire City."
She launched her first Brexit legal case with London-based Spanish hairdresser Deir Tozetti Dos Santos and the People's Challenge group, set up by Grahame Pigney - a UK citizen who lives in France. Mrs Miller launched her first Brexit legal case with London-based Spanish hairdresser Deir Tozetti Dos Santos and the People's Challenge group, set up by Grahame Pigney - a UK citizen who lives in France.
Backed by a crowd-funding campaign, they argued the government could not invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty - starting the formal process of the UK leaving the EU - without seeking approval from Parliament.Backed by a crowd-funding campaign, they argued the government could not invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty - starting the formal process of the UK leaving the EU - without seeking approval from Parliament.
Three London law firms - Mishcon de Reya, Edwin Coe and Bindmans - agreed to take up the case. Mrs Miller argued only Parliament could make a decision leading to the loss of her "rights" under EU law.
Mrs Miller argued that only Parliament could make a decision leading to the loss of her "rights" under EU law. But she stressed the challenge was not an attempt to overturn the referendum decision, telling BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We are all leavers now."
But she has stressed throughout that the challenge was not an attempt to overturn the referendum decision, telling BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We are all leavers now." 'Verging on dictatorship'
'Consulting Parliament' In November 2016, three High Court judges ruled Parliament had to vote on when the process could begin.
On 3 November 2016, three judges ruled Parliament had to vote on when the process could begin. Speaking after her victory, Mrs Miller told the BBC the case was about scrutinising the details of Brexit, such as "how we leave, how they're going to negotiate, the directions of travel the government will take".
The case went to the Supreme Court the following December, but the 11 judges rejected the government's appeal by a majority of eight to three. And she said the legal challenge was about more than Brexit, arguing that it was "verging on dictatorship" for a prime minister to be able to take away people's rights without Parliament's consent.
Speaking after the High Court verdict, Mrs Miller told the BBC the case was about scrutinising the details of Brexit, such as "how we leave, how they're going to negotiate, the directions of travel the government will take". The government appealed, and the case went to the Supreme Court the following December, but the 11 judges rejected it by a majority of eight to three.
Mrs Miller added that the challenge was about more than Brexit. Following the successful legal challenge, Mrs Miller suffered online abuse, including rape and death threats against her and her family.
"It is about any government, any prime minister, in the future being able to take away people's rights without consulting Parliament," she said. She told James O'Brien: "It has changed the way we live our lives, and the conversations we have with the children".
"We cannot have a democracy like that. That isn't a democracy, that is verging on dictatorship." "We use humour a lot because that's the only way to get through it", she told him.
Even before Boris Johnson announced in August 2019 that he would suspend Parliament for five weeks, Mrs Miller had warned she was prepared to go back to court to "defend Parliamentary sovereignty". In July 2017, an aristocrat who wrote a Facebook post offering £5,000 to anyone who ran over Mrs Miller was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison.
Her case challenging the legality of the suspension was heard at the High Court in September. Describing the businesswoman as a "boat jumper", Rhodri Colwyn Philipps - the 4th Viscount St Davids - wrote: "If this is what we should expect from immigrants, send them back to their stinking jungles."
Lord Pannick, her lawyer, argued Parliament would be "silenced" for an "exceptional" length of time in the critical period before the 31 October Brexit deadline. The peer claimed the comments were "satire" and a "joke".
Mrs Miller was backed by several other parties, including former prime minister Sir John Major. But the judge, who said the post effectively put a "bounty" on Mrs Miller's head, found him guilty of two charges of making menacing communications.
But lawyers for Mr Johnson said prorogation - the power to suspend Parliament - was a political, not a legal, matter. Later that year, Mrs Miller was named as Britain's most influential black person.
The High Court rejected her case, but said she could immediately appeal to the Supreme Court because of the important points of law at stake. "It's amazing to get an accolade when what I've done has solicited a huge amount of abuse," she said on receiving her title.
In another legal challenge, judges in Scotland took the opposite view and ruled the suspension was unlawful. "To have somebody acknowledge me is extraordinarily kind and counters a lot of what I still get on a daily basis."
The UK government appealed to the Supreme Court against this, and the two cases were heard together. Despite the backlash, Mrs Miller went on to launch a second challenge against the government to "defend Parliamentary sovereignty".
The court ruled in favour of Mrs Miller's appeal and against the government's. After Mr Johnson announced in August that he would suspend Parliament for five weeks, Mrs Miller challenged the legality of the decision at the High Court.
Speaking outside the court, surrounded by triumphant supporters, she said: "This prime minister must open the doors of Parliament... MPs must get back and be brave and bold in holding this unscrupulous government to account." She argued that Parliament would be "silenced" for an "exceptional" length of time in the critical period before the 31 October Brexit deadline.
Mrs Miller has spoken in the past about the online abuse she suffered as a result of her legal battles, which have included rape and beheading threats. She initially lost her case, but in Scotland, a separate legal challenge succeeded, with judges taking the view that the suspension was unlawful.
In December, a 55-year-old man from Swindon was arrested over alleged threats against Ms Miller. He was later released and, after consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service, no further action was taken, the Metropolitan Police said. The UK government appealed to the Supreme Court against the Scottish judgement, and the two cases were then heard together.
In July 2017, an aristocrat who wrote an online post offering £5,000 to anyone who ran over Mrs Miller was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison. The court unanimously ruled in favour of Mrs Miller's appeal and against the government's.
Rhodri Colwyn Philipps - the 4th Viscount St Davids - claimed the Facebook messages, posted four days after her first court victory against the government, were "satire" and a joke". Judges said it was wrong to stop MPs carrying out duties in the run-up to the Brexit deadline on 31 October.
But he was found guilty of two charges of making menacing communications. After the ruling Mrs Miller told reporters the ruling showed the government "will push the law, they will push the constitution and they will even bend it to get their own way".