London - 1 December 2016
1. Set-up of lead claimant in Article 50 case Gina Miller
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Gina Miller, lead claimant in Article 50 case:
"I think it will take time, but if over time it doesn't abate and people don't move on to whatever next happens, then - I have young children. I'm really going to have to think about their lives and you know, they can't live in a bubble in a house, not going to be able to go out and not being able to be part of society and have the freedom to live in Britain and I would have to think about what to do then. But if at that stage the only solution is to leave the UK, because of my family, then to me that would be the saddest day. Because I love Britain, and everything about Britain is about its inclusiveness, about its tolerance, about the great British way. It's about fair play and you know around the world, Britain is seen as the country where, you know, even people say it - it's not the British way."
3. Cutaway
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Gina Miller, lead claimant in Article 50 case:
"When it comes to the anger, I'm not surprised. Everything to do with Brexit is so emotionally charged that it's almost become a religion. I say being Catholic, I can say that Catholics can criticise the pope but nobody one else can. And it's a bit like that with Brexit. Leavers can talk about it but nobody else dare talk to about it, even if what you are talking about is something that's very sober and pragmatic and strategic. You are not allowed to talk about that. So I think the anger from that doesn't surprise me. What does surprise me is the level of sexual and racial violence that I've received. Not just from social media. But letters, phone calls, emails, to my staff to our offices, this was a part of society that I really thought we had healed 20, 30, or 40 years ago, but it seems we haven't."
5. Cutaway
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Gina Miller, lead claimant in Article 50 case:
"We've had cyberattacks on our business websites, we've had to make different arrangements with the children and school. I don't go anywhere. I don't go out so it has turned into a poisoned chalice if you like. But I'm still determined that I'm carrying on with this, because I feel that if I didn't do it, then nobody would be asking the questions I'm asking. And we cannot have - all the people who were banging on the table and went on and on about parliamentary sovereignty, I mean they should be ashamed of themselves - and allowing the press and politicians to carry on like this because I'm actually fighting for the thing that they wanted."
7. Cutaway
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Gina Miller, lead claimant in Article 50 case:
"I think they've been cowards because they've let me take the case which gave them time to think about what they wanted to do but what I'm really angry about is the fact that when we won in the high court - surely that gave them the legal certainty and it gave them an area to have a conversation and to go forward. But I've not heard from a single politician about the case. There is no discussion. There is no moving forward. There still seems to me to be two camps to me politically. On one side we have the people who are misleading the public and still lying, and on the other side you have ones that are being quite cowardly and are thinking what will our constituents say. But I thought politics was about the people and what is best for our country. It's not about preserving their own self-interest and their power. So I'm really disappointed in them."
9. Cutaway
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Gina Miller, lead claimant in Article 50 case:
"And they sort of muttered, and one of them said to the other - well you know you have a nickname in the city. And I thought, it's not going to be good, is it? Of course, I said what is it? And they said we call you the black widow spider. At which point I paused and I thought well that's wrong on so many levels. And then I thought, well thank you because that must mean I'm doing something right. Because nobody in the city has managed to come up with an intellectual argument as to why I was wrong. And I have to say, it's very much the same here. People do not talk about the case, and the central pillars of our arguments of our case. They attack me personally. So I see it as they have nothing else to do. They are not attacking the message, they are attacking the messenger. Which must mean I am winning."
11. Various cutaways
The financial entrepreneur challenging the British government over its European Union exit plans says she has been subjected to sexual and racial abuse messages, threatening mail and hacks on her company's computer systems.
Gina Miller has had to make different arrangements for her children in school. She's hired bodyguards and contacted the police.
The case is considered to be the most important constitutional matter in a generation, revolving around the question of whether Prime Minister Theresa May can start negotiating Britain's exit from the European Union without an act of Parliament.
May says the referendum on EU membership gave her a mandate to take Britain out of the EU and that discussing the details of her strategy with Parliament would weaken the government's negotiating position.
May has announced plans to invoke Article 50 of the EU treaty, starting talks on Britain's future relationship with the single market, by the end of March.
Miller's lawsuit against the government seeks to answer this as well as much bigger questions about where power lies in this nation's democracy and whether rights can be revoked without a vote of lawmakers.
She won the first round of the legal challenge at the High Court last month, a decision that only accelerated the outrage. The lawsuit which is set to be heard before the Supreme Court in London on Monday.
She says that while she is not suprised by the anger generated by the issue, "what does surprise me is the level of sexual and racial violence that I've received."
Miller adds that her recent victory presented an opportunity for a "conversation" on the issue with politicians but to date has not heard from any.
It was her campaign in recent years for transparency in fees charged by investment managers to their clients that first won her widespread notice in business circles - even as it made her unpopular among fellow asset managers.
She recalled attending an event in which she noticed a group of men staring at her. She walked over and introduced herself.
"And they sort of muttered, and one of them said to the other - well you know you have a nickname in the city. And I thought, it's not going to be good, is it? So I said what is it? And they said we call you the black widow spider."
Miller says she hopes people will move on to other issues because she has a family to consider, but in the meantime, leaving the UK is an option she is considering which "would be the saddest day."
