May still can’t say if she’d vote for Brexit PM refuses three times to say what she’d do in a second referendum
‘This explains all the dither and delay’
The Prime Minister, who backed Remain in last year’s poll, refused three times to say whether her view had changed since taking charge of leading Britain out of the EU. THERESA May last night refused to say whether she would back Brexit in another referendum.
The week before the election in June, Mrs May tried to turn the tables on Labour over Brexit, saying: ‘You can only deliver Brexit if you believe in Brexit.’ But, during an interview on LBC Radio last night, Mrs May declined to say whether she would now vote for Britain to leave the EU.
She initially told presenter Iain Dale, a former Tory candidate, that she did not answer ‘hypothetical questions’.
When asked again, she replied: ‘Well, I voted Remain for good reasons at the time, but circumstances move on. The important thing now is we should all be focused on delivering Brexit and delivering the best deal.’
Asked for a third time, the PM paused and said: ‘I could sit here and I could say I’d still vote Remain or I’d vote Leave just to give you an answer to that question. I’m being open and honest with you. What I did last time around was I looked at everything and came to a judgment and I’d do exactly the same this time around. But we’re not having another referendum and that’s absolutely crucial.’
Tory Eurosceptics last night played down the significance of Mrs May’s remarks. Peter Bone said: ‘ I never regarded the PM as being either strongly in favour of EU membership or strongly against. She has taken the position that the people have spoken and she will do her duty to deliver what they voted for. What would be a problem is, is she going to implement it? At the moment the answer is a big yes, and as long as that remains the case everything is fine.’
But political opponents seized on the PM’s remarks. Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage said: ‘It matters hugely. You cannot lead the country through the most important fundamental change of modern times unless you believe in it. It is impossible.
‘This explains all the dither and delay and lack of decisiveness we have seen.’
Liberal Democrat deputy leader Jo Swinson said it was ‘staggering that even the Prime Minister isn’t convinced by the Government’s approach to Brexit’.
The row comes at a time when Tory Eurosceptics are seeking ‘urgent’ talks with Mrs May after she suggested Britain could remain under the jurisdiction of European judges during a two-year transition out of the EU.
The Prime Minister alarmed some Tories on Monday by warning that the European Court of Justice would continue to have jurisdiction over the UK for a ‘time-limited’ period after Britain leaves the EU in March 2019.
Boris Johnson and Michael Gove played down the controversy, urging colleagues to focus on the ‘end state’, when Britain will have fully left the EU and European court rulings will no longer apply. But senior Tory MPs are pushing for meetings with ministers to ‘clarify’ the situation. Sir Bill Cash said: ‘There are many people who have concerns about this.’
Meanwhile, it emerged Britain could join the North American Free Trade Agreement if it left the EU without a deal. Ministers are examining the case for joining the trade pact comprising the US, Canada and Mexico as part of contingency planning for a ‘no-deal’ Brexit.