BRITAIN will begin Brexit before the end of March next year, Theresa May declared yesterday.
Theresa May announced that Article 50 will be triggered by the end of March
In a resolute Tory conference speech the Prime Minister also insisted that there would be no compromise on border controls, and that will be a red line in her negotiations with European leaders.
Mrs May vowed to begin the formal process of quitting the EU by triggering Article 50 no later than the end of March, ensuring that the UK will free of Brussels rule by April 2019.
She told the Conservative Party faithful: “Let me be clear – we are not leaving the European Union only to give up control of immigration again.”
Mrs May’s uncompromising message that full border controls will take precedence over tariff-free trade came in her first Tory conference speech since taking over from David Cameron in Downing Street.
She threw down the gauntlet to MPs and peers plotting to try to delay or block Brexit, accusing them of “insulting the intelligence of the British people”.
Her remarks were seen as a curt rebuff to supporters of a “soft” Brexit, who want the country to accept continued mass migration from Europe in return for keeping full membership of the EU’s single market.
And she was given a resounding cheer from the Tory grassroots when she told them: “Trust the people – we will. We are going to leave the European Union.”
Dismissing the debate about a hard or soft Brexit, Mrs May said: “I know some people ask about the trade-off between controlling immigration and trading with Europe but that is the wrong way of looking at things.
“We have voted to leave the European Union and become a fully independent, sovereign country.
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“We will do what independent sovereign countries do – we will decide for ourselves how we control immigration and we will be free to pass our own laws.”
Mrs May used the speech to the conference in Birmingham to reveal the timescale for triggering Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty – the formal procedure for quitting the EU.
She said: “We should not let things drag on too long.
“Having voted to leave I know that the public will soon expect to see on the horizon the point at which Britain does formally leave the European Union.
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“So let me be absolutely clear – there will be no unnecessary delays in invoking Article 50.
“We will invoke it when we are ready, and we will be ready soon. We will invoke Article 50 no later than the end of March next year.”
She confirmed that a “Great Repeal Bill” that will scrap the legislation that took Britain into the European bloc will be included in the Queen’s Speech.
Mrs May added: “Its effect will be clear – our laws will be made not in Brussels but in Westminster.
“Parliament put the decision to leave or remain inside the EU in the hands of the people and the people gave their answer with emphatic clarity.
“So now it is up to the Government not to question, quibble or backslide on what we have been instructed to do, but to get on with the job.
“Because those people who argue that Article 50 can only be triggered after agreement in both Houses of Parliament are not standing up for democracy, they’re trying to subvert it.
“They’re not trying to get Brexit right, they’re trying to kill it by delaying it. They are insulting the intelligence of the British people.
“Brexit means Brexit – and we’re going to make a success of it.”
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Striking an upbeat note about the future, Mrs May said the referendum was “a vote for Britain to stand tall, to believe in ourselves, to forge an ambitious and optimistic new role in the world”.
David Davis, the EU Exit Secretary, told the conference that EU leaders should “forget the bluster” and strike a mutually beneficial trade deal with Britain.
He said: “Once again, we are going to be a nation that makes for ourselves all the decisions that matter most.
“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for Britain to forge a new place for itself in the world and to make our own decisions about the sort of country we want to be – a nation that is a beacon for free trade, a force for social justice, a defender of freedom, the home of enterprise of tolerance, fairness and decency.”
