"The result of yesterday’s (1/2/17)vote was no surprise, but the real debate is going to take place once the government’s white paper is published later today.

"It will be interesting to see exactly what is included – we expect a ‘hard Brexit’ approach outlined including a departure from the single market and the customs union, but the details will be important.

"From the point of view of democracy I believe it will be difficult for the government to maintain that their approach represents the will of the people and as such parliament has a duty to approve it, since less than a third of the electorate of the UK actually voted to leave the EU without any indication of exactly what a Brexit would look like.

"The leave voters potentially had a range of ideal visions in mind and we cannot know how much public support there is for Theresa May’s hard Brexit approach. "

Lucy Hatton is from the University of Warwick's department of Politics and International Studies

For further details please contact Nicola Jones, Media Relations Manager, University of Warwick 07920531221 or N.Jones.1@warwick.ac.uk