Get out as soon as possible, top Eurocrats tell

TOP Eurocrats last night urged Britain to formally apply to leave the EU “as soon as possible”.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and other Brussels leaders called on the Government to trigger Article 50 of the bloc’s rule book that begins the process of departure.

“Any delay would unnecessarily prolong uncertainty,” they said.

But David Cameron and Boris Johnson both insisted the process should not be rushed.

The Prime Minister is due to begin talks on the UK’s withdrawal at a summit of European leaders in Brussels next Tuesday.

British diplomats fear that EU officials want the UK to act swiftly because once Article 50 is triggered the country will be shut out of talks on an exit deal.

It is thought some leaders want to impose a take-it-or-leave-it settlement with the UK to deter other member states from quitting.

Mr Cameron vowed to allow his successor in Downing Street to formally trigger Article 50 after a handover in the autumn. He said: “A negotiation with the European Union will need to begin under a new prime minister and I think it is right that this new prime minister takes the decision about when to trigger article 50 and start the formal and legal process of leaving the EU.”

He added: “I will attend the European Council next week to explain the decision the British people have taken and my own decision.”

Mr Johnson spoke to reassure people concerned about the process of Brexit, insisting that there was no need to invoke Article 50, which triggers a fixed two-year countdown to leaving the EU.

“There is no need for haste,” he said. “As the Prime Minister has said, nothing will change over the short term, except that work will have to begin on how to give effect to the will of the people and to extricate this country from the supranational system.”

Despite the geographical divisions in the votes to leave or remain which saw Scotland back continued membership of the EU, Mr Johnson said: “To those who may be anxious, whether at home or abroad, this does not mean that the United Kingdom will be in any way less united, nor indeed does it mean it will be any less European.”

One Eurosceptic peer last night urged the Government to try an alternative to triggering article 50 and repeal the European Communities Act 1972, rather than going “cap in hand to Brussels for permission to leave”.

The independent Labour peer, Lord Stoddart of Swindon, said the move would simply scrap the law