‘Thank you and goodbye’ President’s message to UK as historic letter to leave EU is handed over
THE Birmingham MP who led the campaign to take the UK out of the European Union urged the country to unite around making Brexit a success, as Prime Minister Theresa May formally triggered the two-year process of withdrawal from the European Union.
Gisela Stuart (Lab, Edgbaston), chairman of the Leave campaign in last year’s referendum, said: “Yes, there are challenges ahead but whether you voted Leave or Remain, today (Wednesday) marked the day when we must all come together and seize the opportunities that Brexit presents.”
Writing in the Birmingham Post, she said: “Leaving the EU is not just a great democratic moment it is also our chance to discuss how we start to renew our country. This renewal should help the West Midlands build on its strengths.”
In a letter to European Council president Donald Tusk, triggering Article 50, Mrs May said the UK wanted a “deep and special partnership” with the future EU of 27 nations, but restated her determination the UK should regain control of its borders, leave the single market and escape the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice.
But she was accused of threatening the EU with a withdrawal of security collaboration, after the letter warned failure to reach agreement on trade would mean “our co-operation in the fight against crime and terrorism would be weakened”.
Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron described the warning as “utterly scandalous”, adding: “This letter is a blatant threat, security co-operation has been lumped together with trade.”
The six-page letter, signed in ink by the Prime Minister, was hand-delivered to Mr Tusk in his Brussels office by UK permanent representative Sir Tim Barrow at around 12.20pm on Wednesday just minutes before Mrs May made a statement on her plans to MPs in the House of Commons.
The European Council president officially announced receipt of the letter, posting a photograph on Twitter while Mrs May completed her weekly session of Prime Minister’s Questions in Westminster.
Mrs May told MPs the Government was acting on the democratic will of the British people with the “clear and convincing” support of Parliament by taking Britain out of the EU in what was one of “the great turning points in our national story”.
The Prime Minister issued a plea for “unity” following last year’s divisive referendum, so the nation can “together build a stronger, fairer, better Britain”.
Setting out Britain’s negotiating position in her letter, she made it clear she wants a new trade deal to be negotiated at the same time as the “divorce deal” extricating the UK from its 44-year membership.
Amid expectations the European Commission plans to present the UK with a £50 billion “divorce bill”, Mrs May said she was ready to discuss a “fair settlement” of Britain’s rights and obligations as a departing member, but gave no hint of the amounts she is prepared to contemplate.
She accepted the UK’s rejection of the EU principle of free movement of
Today marks the day when we must all come together
people meant it could not “cherry pick” the benefits of the single market. And she said she was ready to agree an implementation period following the formal date of Brexit in 2019, to allow changes to business arrangements to be phased in gradually, avoiding a “cliff edge”.
A sombre-faced Mr Tusk held up the letter at a Brussels press conference as he sent a farewell message to the UK: “We already miss you. Thank you and goodbye.”