BREXITEERS cheered in the House of Commons yesterday as they finally got the news they had been waiting for: talks on EU withdrawal can now begin.
Pro-leave MPs gave vocal support to the announcement that the Queen has signed the Article 50 Bill into law, a move which gives Theresa May the power to start negotiating Brexit.
Speaker John Bercow announced the news one day after Brexit Secretary David Davis told a parliamentary committee that the government has no idea what the divorce will cost if no agreement can be made.
Yesterday he said negotiations will begin within a fortnight, saying: “The Queen has today given royal assent to the Article 50 Bill, giving the government the formal power to trigger Article 50 and deliver on the will of the British people.
“By the end of the month we will invoke Article 50, allowing us to start our negotiations to build a positive new partnership with our friends and neighbours in the European Union, as well as taking a step out into the world as a truly global Britain.”
While the first steps needed to break away from the EU will be taken swiftly, the complex process of disentangling institutions and laws and finding agreement on a number of contentious issues is expected to take years.
Davis says the UK aims to create a “positive new partnership” with the bloc it is leaving.
However, in a revealing evidence session on Wednesday, Davis says UK industries could face costly tariffs if the UK exits under World Trade Organisation rules, ranging from around 10 per cent for the automobile sector to 40 per cent for agriculture.
But despite uncertainty and confusion on this, as well as issues such as the rights of EU citizens in Britain and the fate of UK immigrants on the continent, the government succeeded in getting the two-clause Bill through parliament unamended when a threatened Tory rebellion failed to materialise.
Bercow’s announcement came yesterday as part of a list of business.
Labour MP Gisela Stuart, who backed Brexit and chaired Vote Leave, said: “This is a simple yet significant step in implementing the referendum result and respecting the decision of the British people to leave the EU.
“Brexit will allow us to begin the process of national renewal, enabling us to build a robust economy, more cohesive communities and to make politicians more accountable to the public.
“In the weeks and months ahead, I would urge politicians from all parties to work together to help ensure we make the most of the opportunities that leaving the EU will provide.”
The development comes just one week ahead of an informal meeting of EU nations to mark the 60th anniversary of the Treaties of Rome, which laid the foundations for the creation of the bloc. It is expected that May will delay sending official notification to Brussels in order to avoid a clash with that event.
According to the European Commission, the talks will take 18 months, but the schedule will have to take in the political calendars of the 27 other states, with elections due in France and Germany.
With the European parliamentary contest due in 2019, it is unlikely that an extension will be given in the event that progress stalls.
However, a transitional agreement could be put in place in this circumstance.
While May has declared “no deal is better than a bad deal”, Davis said this comment was made “in the emotional aftermath” of the referendum.
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