Gaffe on UK exit date by minister
NEW Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay was left red-faced yesterday when he appeared not to know when the UK is leaving the EU.
Mr Barclay, who took over the role last month after the resignation of Dominic Raab, said Britain was quitting the bloc on March 31, rather than the actual date of March 29.
The slip came as he was grilled on the withdrawal process by MPs.
The Cabinet minister said: “It is the legal process in Europe that a permanent relationship, a permanent trade arrangement, cannot be reached until we have left.
“And, I am committed to ensuring, and the Prime Minister is committed to ensuring, that we do deliver on that, we do leave the EU on March 31. And, by that point, we are then in a position to be able to agree a trade agreement.
“But we can’t do that before we have left.”
Mr Barclay urged MPs to back the Government’s Brexit deal in a crunch Commons vote next week.
Asked if the vote would be cancelled in the face of widespread opposition, Mr Barclay said: “No, I think the vote will happen on Tuesday.”
Meanwhile, Theresa May’s chief Brexit adviser Oliver Robbins admitted that the withdrawal deal would be a “bad outcome” for the UK.
He told the Commons Exiting the European Union Committee that Brussels would not accept any kind of deal which did not include a Plan B backstop to keep the Irish