David Davis, who is better known as the Brexit Secretary has won a victory for anti-surveillance campaigners, which ironically would not have happened had he done his job and got the UK out of the EU.

The case also highlights how vulnerable human rights will be in the UK post Brexit.The court ruled parts of the law, which allows the government to collect and keep the internet and phone records of every UK citizen, are unlawful.

This means that significant parts of Mrs May’s Investigatory Powers Act (IPA) will have to go back to the drawing board.

Last month, Parliament passed the IPA which increased its powers collect and store citizens' data without a warrant.

Comms companies will be required to store every person’s “communications data” – the who, what, when, where and how of every email, text, phone call, and internet communication, including those of lawyers, doctors, MPs and journalists.

But the EU ruled that DRIPA breaks the law because it "allows general and indiscriminate retention of all communications data".

Martha Spurrier, Director of Liberty, who backed the legal challenge said: “Today’s judgment upholds the rights of ordinary British people not to have their personal lives spied on without good reason or an independent warrant. The Government must now make urgent changes to the Investigatory Powers Act to comply with this.

“This is the first serious post-referendum test for our Government’s commitment to protecting human rights and the rule of law. The UK may have voted to leave the EU – but we didn't vote to abandon our rights and freedoms.”