MAY’S GREAT REGRET

NEARLY three years have passed since the public voted to leave the European Union. I came to office on a promise to deliver on that verdict. In March 017, I triggered the Article 50 process for the UK. Two years on, MPs have been unable to agree on a way to implement the UK’s withdrawal, as a result we will now not leave on time with a deal on March 9.

This delay is a matter of great personal regret for me. You the public have had enough. You want this stage of the Brexit process to be over and done with. I agree, I am on your side. So today I have written to Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, to request a short extension of Article 50 up to June 30, to give MPs the time to make the final choice. Do they want to leave the EU with a deal? Do they want to leave without a deal? Or do they not want to leave at all? It is high time we made the decision. So far Parliament has done everything possible to avoid making a choice. All MPs have been willing to say is what they do not want. But I am not prepared to delay Brexit any further than June 30. Some argue that I am making the wrong choice and that I should ask for a longer extension to the end of the year or beyond to give more time for politicians to argue over the way forward. That would mean asking you to vote in European elections nearly three years after our country decided to leave. What kind of message would that send? Some have suggested holding a second referendum. I don’t believe that is what you want and it is not what I want. You want us to get on with it and that is what I am determined to do.