Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
PM stays resolute on Brexit timetable
THERESA May is moving to restore her grip on Brexit as calls mount for an emergency general election to settle the question of British withdrawal from the EU.
The Prime Minister was engaging in an urgent round of telephone diplomacy in the wake of the High Court decision which insisted Parliament must have the final say on Britain triggering divorce deal negotiations with Brussels.
Mrs May was due to call European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker today in a bid to try to persuade continental leaders that the explosive legal ruling would not shake her from the pledge to invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty — which would formally launch Brexit — by April next year.
But the uncertainty created by the High Court judgment was underlined by former Tory chancellor and ardent pro-European Ken Clarke who said he would move to block invoking Article 50, saying: “I will vote against it. I shall stick to my guns. I will not cast a hypocritical vote.”
With the largely pro-EU Commons in the Brexit driving seat pending an appeal of the High Court ruling to the Supreme Court in early December, interim Ukip leader Nigel Farage called on Mrs May to call a snap general election, even though he said such a move would face stiff opposition from Tory and Labour benches alike.
Mr Farage said: “The best thing Theresa May could do now would be to call a general election but it is unlikely that Labour MPs, led by a man they don’t believe in, would be keen on facing the likely electoral oblivion that would follow.
“It also seems likely that some on the Prime Minister’s own backbenches, who are seeking to overrule the will of the British people, would be unlikely to support an early general election either.
“The establishment, in denial after the referendum result, still just don’t get it.
“The British people are not simply going to let this incredible establishment arrogance lie. I suspect even more radical political change is on the way.”
A spokeswoman for Mrs May said the Prime Minister was keen to tell other European leaders she would stick to the declared timetable for withdrawal, stating: “She will set out what the process is, which is that we are appealing and that we are carrying on and sticking to the timetable we have set out. This judgment is not going to derail that.”