Theresa May signs historic letter that triggers Brexit and and enforces last year’s referendum decision as irreversible
BREXIT will begin today after Theresa May signed a historic letter to enforce last year’s referendum decision as irreversible.
The PM despatched the official announcement that she is triggering ‘Article 50’ talks to take Britain out of the EU from No10 to Brussels last night.
From the moment it is delivered to EU Council president Donald Tusk at precisely 12.30pm this lunchtime, there will be no going back on voters’ landmark call.
Mrs May’s Article 50 letter was carried to Brussels by a senior civil servant on a Eurostar train amid tight security.
He was accompanied by security staff, as the letter’s contents are highly market sensitive, Whitehall sources revealed.
The Prime Minister claims it is now time for the nation to ‘come together’
Making a special statement to the Commons at the same time, Mrs May will tell the nation the major moment means it is now “time to come together”.
She will brand Britain’s new future outside of the 28 member union for the first time since 1973 as “a momentous journey”.
And the PM will insist bitter feuding between Remainers and Leavers in the nine months and five days since the nationwide poll must now end.
Mrs May will tell MPs: “When I sit around the negotiating table in the months ahead, I will represent every person in the whole United Kingdom – young and old, rich and poor, city, town, country and all the villages and hamlets in between.
“Our shared values, interests and ambitions can - and must - bring us together.
“We are no longer defined by the vote we cast, but by our determination to make a success of the result.”
And she will declare: “We are one great union of people and nations with a proud history and a bright future”.
After Mrs May signed the letter to Mr Tusk sitting at No10’s Cabinet Room table, senior Foreign Office officials couriered it overnight under tight security to the office of the UK’s representative to the EU in Brussels, Sir Tim Barrow.
Sir Tim will make the short 150 metre journey to the EU Council’s HQ today to deliver it to Mr Tusk by hand.
There is only one copy of the letter, believed to be six pages long.
It reveals more detail about the PM’s vision for a new strategic partnership with the 27 remaining members, as well as how she would like negotiations to progress.
Brexit Minister David Davis will lead face-to-face negotiations
To prepare the ground, Mrs May then telephoned Mr Tusk, German leader Angela Merkel and EU Commission boss Jean-Claude Juncker.
During her phone call to Berlin, Mrs May agreed with Europe’s most important leader Mrs Merkel that the negotiations would begin “in a constructive and positive spirit”, No10 said.
Mrs May also pledged that the UK would “remain a close and committed ally” to the EU.
Qatar becomes the 16th nation to open post-Brexit trade talks with Britain
Former Foreign Office chief Sir Simon Fraser warned the tight 24 month time frame was too short.
Labelling the issues as “very complex”, he echoed growing concerns by saying he believes it is “certain that we won’t have resolved everything in the period before the expiry of the Article 50 process”.
Theresa May at a meeting ahead of the Qatar-UK Business and Investment Forum in Birmingham
Face to face negotiations – led by Brexit Secretary David Davis – may not even start until the beginning of June, as EU leaders take the next two months preparing their own game plan.
Speaking at a conference in Birmingham, Mrs May urged Britain to seize the “historic opportunity” to become an even bigger influence around the world as she penned the Article 50 letter.
She said the start of Brexit talks should not only be about securing a “new, deep and special partnership” with Europe but must also be about “building new alliances” and “working with old friends” as part of her plan for Global Britain.
And she marked her words by heralding the “excellent relationship” with Qatar after it became the 16th nation to open post-Brexit trade talks with Britain.
The Middle Eastern country delivered a Brexit boost by announcing it is ploughing a further £5billion into the UK economy - taking its total investment here to £40billion.
Mrs May told a trade summit with Qatari counterparts that the investment drive was a “bold statement of continued confidence in the British economy”.
As talks begin, business leaders called for “as pragmatic and grown-up dialogue” and for an end to “political posturing” on both sides.
Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce Adam Marshall said: “Concluding exit and trade negotiations at the same time would moderate adjustment costs for UK businesses, and enable trade between UK and EU firms to continue with less disruption.”
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said Brexit will change Britain, but “the question is how."
Mr Corbyn warned: “It will be a national failure of historic proportions if the Prime Minister comes back from Brussels without having secured protection for jobs and living standards”.
Former Education Secretary Nicky Morgan warned that leaving the EU without a deal would be “the worst of all worlds and should not be entertained”.
But she predicted the “inner realist within Theresa May” would ensure she strikes “the best deal for the country” before quitting.
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