Brexit Secretary David Davis' statement on Article 50

The government did not trigger Article 50 straight after the EU referendum vote, to give it more time to "develop a detailed negotiation position", said David Davis, but the process cannot "drag on" and it would still be triggered by March 2017.

The Brexit Secretary was addressing MPs after the High Court ruling on Article 50, and said the government "disagrees with the court's judgment", and confirmed the decision to appeal against the ruling in the Supreme Court.

He expected the hearing to take place in early December, with a judgment "soon after", but that it would "not be proper" to go in to details of the government's case.

Mr Davis said there would must be no attempt to "rejoin by the back door", and there would be no second referendum.