Senior figures in the City of London have warned that Brexit could be delayed until 2019 because Whitehall departments will not be ready to trigger Article 50 by January of 2017.
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Britain could remain in the European Union until the end of 2019, nearly a year longer than anticipated by the British government, the media reported.
Prime Minister Theresa May’s government has indicated that it is planning to trigger Article 50 of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty, which would start a two-year countdown to leaving the bloc, early in 2017.
The country could remain in the bloc for three more years because Theresa May and her government need time to prepare for exit negotiations.
There are also fears Mrs May’s new Brexit and worldwide trade teams will not be ready for Article 50 to be activated in January 2017.
Enacting article 50 would start the formal two years of negotiations between the United Kingdom and the European Union before the final Brexit. “They say they don’t even know the right questions to ask when they finally begin bargaining with Europe”, one source in London told the newspaper.
The Prime Minister was also said to be keen to delay Brexit to avoid a clash with French and German elections next year.
Regarding a potential delay to triggering Article 50, a spokesman for Mrs May said it was still a “top priority”.
However, their new government departments are being set up from scratch and the situation is reportedly “chaotic”.
Mr Fox said economic diplomacy – policies concerning trade and Britain’s economic ties – should be transferred to his department, according to a letter quoted in The Sunday Telegraph.
A member of the Prime Minister’s cabinet also conceded the German election, in which German Chancellor Angela Merkel will attempt to regain her CDU / CSU party’s 41.5 per cent vote share, posed “some challenges”.
The spokeswoman said the government did not comment on leaked documents.
“But I do not think it would be right for me to try to be the captain that steers our country to its next destination”.
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The Brexit vote has sparked calls for a second Scottish independence referendum because of majority of Scots voted to remain in the European Union during the referendum.
