May plans to trigger Brexit process by end of March

BIRMINGHAM: Prime Minister Theresa May said on Sunday she would trigger the process to leave the EU by the end of March, offering the first glimpse of a timetable for a divorce that will redefine Britain’s ties with its biggest trading partner.

Britain’s shock vote to leave the European Union in June propelled May to power and the former interior minister has been under pressure to offer more details on her plan for departure, beyond an often-repeated catchphrase that “Brexit means Brexit”.

In a move to ease fears among her ruling Conservatives that she may delay the divorce, May told the party’s annual conference in Birmingham, central England, that she was determined to move on with the process and win the “right deal”. Using Article 50 of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty will give Britain a two-year period to clinch one of the most complex deals in Europe since World War Two.

“We will invoke Article 50 no later than the end of March next year,” May told the conference to cheers from hundreds of members.

“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,” she added.

Backslide

“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,” said May, keen to reassure lawmakers that she will deliver Brexit despite her earlier support, albeit quiet, for a “Remain” vote in the referendum.