Independent MEP Explains What Would Happen If Brexit Isn't Delivered On Time

© AFP 2023 / Tolga AkmenBritain's Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street in central London on April 18, 2018, as she heads to the weekly Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs) session in the House of Commons.
Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street in central London on April 18, 2018, as she heads to the weekly Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs) session in the House of Commons. - Sputnik International
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Sputnik spoke to Janice Atkinson, Independent Member of the European Parliament to find out more about the policy of the British government on Brexit.

Sputnik: So Prime Minister Theresa May issued a plea for unity in an opinion piece in the Sunday Times newspaper, calling on Brexiteers to “trust me to deliver.” “I will not let you down,” she wrote… Janice, taking this plea into account as well as last week’s rebellion in the house of Lords, should the British people trust Theresa May?

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Janice Atkinson: No because we don’t know what she stands for. It’s been two year since we voted to leave and we haven’t heard from her [Theresa May] what she actually believes in. I read this piece in the Sunday times and I think she has a reason to be optimistic… she doesn’t actually realize how powerful she is; there are basically two scenarios to go forward and deliver the Brexit that 17.4 million people voted for. One, she can just walk away and revert to the WTO rules and trade as an independent sovereign country, or we can do that and give them the EU notice and go to WTO rules and they will quickly produce a free trade deal. They have to economically; the EU is fighting for its very survival. They’ve got elections in exactly a years’ time for the EU parliament and the parliament will come back in a very different makeup because all over Europe and the EU countries are rejecting the federalism that the EU stands for. She [Theresa May] is in a very powerful position to get her cabinet onside and deliver Brexit that we voted for.

Sputnik: It’s not just Theresa May who’s having problems with centralizing her party over Brexit, Labour are also having trouble finding common ground amongst party members and MPs. What does this indicate? Is Brexit at risk of being diluted by both Labour and the Conservatives?

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Janice Atkinson: Well consecutive Conservative and Labour governments have given our sovereignty away to the EU, so they don’t really know how to govern they just become a vassal state of the EU. I have no idea where Labour are in this, you’ve got Emily Thornberry appearing on television saying one thing and Corbyn saying another. I think Labour now have issued 16 different positions on Brexit, so they’re just not a credible opposition let alone a government in waiting. Mrs. May has to bring her party together, if she doesn’t and doesn’t deliver us [the British people] the Brexit we want and I hear the rumours around Westminster, they are recognizing that the polls are now saying that 70% of the British people want her to deliver Brexit and get on with it, rather than trying to keep a few hardline remainers on her side.

Sputnik: With less than a year to go before Britain leaves the European Union, at the rate we’re going, can we expect Brexit to be delivered on time and if not what will the consequences be for Theresa May and the Conservatives?

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Janice Atkinson: We’ve given notice that we will be leaving on March the 29th 2019, the clock is ticking. Theresa May has had two years to deliver a Brexit plan and this government has been woefully inadequate in their plans. Even the treasury, who is headed up by an ultra-remainer has not made contingency plans to just walk away and give the department international trade the cash they need to strike these free trade agreements. I think this country is at a tipping point where Theresa May better get her act together and Liam Fox better start signing those Trade Agreements because I think we’re going to be walking away. I hope for one and I know a lot of MEPs and MPs agree with me, that we need to just walk away. Britain is going to be a proud trading nation and we’re going to make Britain great again by walking and going to WTO rules. At that point the EU will sit up and listen because economically they have to.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect those of Sputnik.

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