Article 50 victor Gina Miller hits back at critics saying UK is not 'a tin-pot dictatorship'

Gina Miller has hit back at criticism and said "we do not live in a tin-pot dictatorship" and that "everyone should be my biggest fan" after the campaigner defeated the government in court on how Brexit should be triggered.

Miller was subject vitriolic online abuse, death threats and severe criticism in the press after three High Court judges ruled that MPs should have a parliamentary vote before Article 50 is triggered.

Speaking on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show on Sunday (6 November), she said: "This is not about the referendum vote. This is about how we leave the EU – and the papers have behaved, in my view, disgracefully.

"I'd like to challenge them as to whether they have actually read the case? Have they actually read the judgement?

"Because the elephant in the room is that [the ruling is] actually about leaving the EU, not about reversing the EU referendum [decision]."

Responding to Marr's questions about Theresa May's piece in the Sunday Telegraph where she states MPs have already been given the vote on holding the EU referendum and that they now need to accept the will of the people, Miller said: "That's misdirection.

"The case is that she cannot use something called the Royal Prerogative to [leave the EU], because we do not live in a tin-pot dictatorship.

"We live in a country that has a sovereign parliament. So, you can't win back sovereignty at the very moment you sidestep it.

"We have the rule of law and it's British judges in a British court who have made a decision about how we leave. And so now, get on and leave. Why is she so afraid of having this debate?"

Miller also discussed the abuse she received but said personal attacks were irrelevant.

She said: "It has brought out a side of society that the dark clouds are definitely gathering and it's every 'ism' you can think of. Sexism, racism – everything is there. But you know, I was aware that there would be nastiness.

"It's totally irrelevant, everyone has a past. Personal attacks have nothing to do with the importance of this case.

"The black letter of the law [is that the referendum] was advisory, but that's again not relevant in this.

"This is about creating the legal certainty and actually everyone in the country should be my biggest fan because I've used my own money and a few of us, we've used our own money, to give the legal certainty for Mrs May to move ahead."