“The prime minister is very clear there will be no second referendum”.
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The spokesman claimed there was “no legal obligation” for Prime Minister Theresa May to consult Parliament before making such a decision – which would start the clock ticking on a two-year process of Britain negotiating a new relationship with the EU.
Two months on from the referendum, when the country voted to leave the European Union by a slim margin of 51.9% to 48.1%, the terms of exit and what a post-Brexit Britain would look like are still unclear, regarding the free movement of people and access to the single market.
Mrs May said “quite a lot of work” had already been done over the summer on preparing the way for exit negotiations under Article 50 of the European Union treaties.
Before the break, the premier had charged ministers with identifying possible opportunities from Brexit in their departments. According to a spokesperson for Number 10, May explained that Article 50 will not be triggered until next year.
Matthias Fekl, the French trade minister, said talks needed to be halted and started again.
While Mrs May made the unusual decision to hold the meeting at her countryside retreat outside London in an effort to encourage a more thoughtful debate, no consensus is likely to emerge on how Britain should negotiate its divorce from the EU.
On the campaign to defeat Daesh (Islamic State) in Syria, Iraq and Libya and the UK’s role, the spokeswoman added: “The Cabinet agreed that Islamist terrorism continues to be one of the greatest security threats we face”.
Former prime minister David Cameron called for the European Union referendum after promising voters that if they voted him and his Conservative party into power in the 2015 general election, then they would get to decide the fate of the nation within the 28-nation bloc. She told them that in the Brexit discussions, “we should consider what is going to work best for the United Kingdom and what is going to work for the European Union, rather than necessarily pursuing an existing model”, it said in an e-mailed statement.
‘This must mean controls on the numbers of people who come to Britain from Europe but also a positive outcome for those who wish to trade goods and services’.
Senior ministers are to discuss plans for Brexit with Mrs May at a Cabinet meeting at Chequers tomorrow.
Prime Minister Theresa May has said it will not be enacted this year, the government needing time to shape Britain’s exit objectives first.
But other senior ministers including Brexit Secretary David Davis and International Trade Secretary Liam Fox favour totally pulling out of the single market to gain full control of United Kingdom borders.
“British business could not survive without access to that free movement of labour”.
“I do not think Article 50 will be invoked”, he said.
The “Remain” campaigner added: “For me, the priorities are first of all access to the single market”.
“We’re also going to talk this morning about social reform”, she said.
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Among those attending Wednesday’s cabinet meeting were David Davis, head of the newly formed ministry responsible for Brexit, as well as Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Liam Fox, the minister responsible for trade, both of whom also are focused on Brexit-related issues.
