Meet Gina Miller, the woman who took Brexit to court
On Wednesday, British Prime Minister Theresa May's government suffered a defeat as members of her own party sided with the opposition, backing an amendment that gives parliament a decisive vote on the final Brexit deal.
The road to Brexit has not been smooth.
Businesswoman and transparency advocate Gina Miller has been keeping a close eye on the process — despite being subject to death threats.
I still think we have a huge lack of honesty and transparency and reasonableness about Brexit- Gina Miller
Last year, Miller took the U.K. government to court, arguing that parliament needed to vote on the process of leaving the European Union — that the government could not trigger Brexit negotiations without the approval of MPs.
She won the case at the Supreme Court in January 2017.
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But her fight isn't over.
"I still think we have a huge lack of honesty and transparency and reasonableness about Brexit," Miller tells The Current's Anna Maria Tremonti.
Miller has been accused of being a wealthy elitist who wants to overturn the will of the people, but she says she is not campaigning for Britain to stay in the European Union. She says she simply wants the government to be honest about what Brexit will bring.
"People have been overpromised that by leaving the EU, many things that are wrong in our society will be healed," says Miller, who is a founding partner of SCM Direct Wealth Management.
"That is not the case. The politicians are not addressing the underlying issues."
Miller, who immigrated to the U.K. from Guyana as a child, has suffered vicious — and often racist — attacks for expressing her views.
Rhodri Philipps, the 4th Viscount St Davids, was sentenced to 12 weeks in jail for writing a post on Facebook about Miller that said "£5,000 for the first person to 'accidentally' run over this bloody troublesome first generation immigrant. This f***ing boat jumper comes to our country, then believes she knows better than the people of our country, what is best for us. If this is what we should expect from immigrants send them back to their stinking jungles."
"The voices who are looking to divide our society and to blame others for everything, basically, feel that they can threaten me, my family, do me harm, because of the colour of my skin," she says.
Miller now has full-time security, and rarely leaves her house, especially with her children.
"I don't really go out with them much anymore because I don't want them to be present if anything should happen to me," says Miller.
But she says it's also for the sake of her children's future — and the future of the U.K. — that she won't back down on advocating for transparency and honesty.
"I want to fight for the country that I think we can become again," says Miller.
Listen to the full conversation above.
This segment was produced by The Current's Karin Marley.