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 next year.
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“They don’t have the infrastructure for the people they need to hire”, the source, who had had a meeting with two senior ministers, said.
Another new department, the ministry for worldwide trade under Liam Fox, also has an uphill task to recruit experts after decades of leaving the job to Brussels left Britain with only a handful of experienced negotiators, according to a news agency report.
The country could remain in the bloc for three more years because Theresa May and her government need time to prepare for exit negotiations.
A City of London source said next year’s parliamentary elections in Germany and France, set to take place next September and May respectively, is expected to delay Mrs May’s decision.
“The PM has set out the government’s position on Article 50 and has established a new department dedicated to taking forward the negotiations”, she said. May was copied in on the correspondence, the newspaper said.
The spokesman said that the government did not comment on leaked documents.
Earlier, Brexit (a term commonly used to denote Britain’s exit from EU) was expected by politicians early in 2019. The outcome has prompted jubilant celebrations among Eurosceptics around the Continent and sent shockwaves through the global economy.
The delay could renew tensions within the Conservative Party, which was split in the lead-up to the vote, ending in David Cameron’s resignation as prime minister. Cameron said: “I will do everything I can as Prime Minister to steady the ship over the coming weeks and months”.
“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”.
France is slated to hold presidential election rounds in April and May, while Germany is due to hold its general election in the fall.
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A delay would give Nicola Sturgeon more time to stage a second independence referendum before the United Kingdom formally leaves the EU.
