John Baron MP presses Prime Minister on EU Implementation Phase

MP seeks assurances about no extension

Today in the House of Commons, the Prime Minister gave a Statement following last week’s meeting of the European Council.

In the House of Commons, John asked,

“The Prime Minister is absolutely right not to rule out a ‘no deal’ scenario – to do otherwise would be utterly naïve. But when it comes to any implementation period, how can she ensure that it is indeed strictly time-limited?”

The Prime Minister responded that it is essential that any such period is time-limited, because people will require certainty for what will follow once it expires.

John said afterwards,

“I am wary of any implementation period, as it risks indefinitely postponing the decision taken by over 17 million people last year to leave the European Union. There must be no loitering in the departure lounge, and there must be a clean break from the EU.”

“Furthermore, it is naïve to rule out a ‘no deal’ scenario, as this would mean that the UK would accept any deal, at any price, offered by the EU. In any case, we should not be frightened of leaving the EU without a deal – we would fall back on World Trade Organisation terms, which many countries use to trade easily and profitably with the EU. There is no reason why Britain should be any different.”