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United Kingdom withdrawal from the European Union

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"Brexit" redirects here. For the 2016 referendum on this subject, see United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, 2016. For the film, see Brexit: The Movie.
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British withdrawal from the European Union, also shortened from "British exit" to Brexit,[1] is a political goal that has been pursued by various individuals, advocacy groups, and political parties since the United Kingdom joined the precursor of the European Union (EU) in 1973. Withdrawal from the European Union has been a right of EU member states since 2007 under Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union.

In 1975, a referendum was held on the country's membership of the European Economic Community (EEC), later known as the EU. The outcome of the vote was approximately 67% in favour of the UK's continued membership of the EEC.

The UK electorate again addressed the question on 23 June 2016, in a referendum on the country's membership. This referendum was arranged by Parliament when it passed the European Union Referendum Act 2015. The result was 51.9% in support of an exit (17,410,742 votes) and 48.1% (16,141,241 votes) to remain with a turnout of 72.2% and 26,033 rejected ballots.[2]

The exact process for the UK's withdrawal is uncertain under EU law, although it is generally expected to take longer than two years. Article 50 which governs the withdrawal has never been used before. The timing of leaving under the article is a strict two years, once Britain gives an official notice but no official notice seems forthcoming until after a new British Prime Minister is selected later in 2016.[3] The British Prime Minister David Cameron announced he will resign by October, while the First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon has said that Scotland may refuse legislative consent to dropping EU law in Scotland.[4]

Background

The UK was not a signatory to the Treaty of Rome which created the EEC in 1957. The country subsequently applied to join the organization in 1963 and again in 1967, but both applications were vetoed by the then President of France, Charles de Gaulle, ostensibly because "a number of aspects of Britain's economy, from working practices to agriculture" [had] "made Britain incompatible with Europe" and that Britain harboured a “deep-seated hostility” to any pan-European project.[5][6]

Once de Gaulle had relinquished the French presidency, the UK made a third application for membership, which was successful. Under the Conservative Prime Minister Edward Heath the European Communities Act 1972 was enacted. On 1 January 1973 the United Kingdom joined the EEC, then often referred to in the UK as the "Common Market".[7] The opposition Labour Party, led by Harold Wilson, contested the October 1974 general election with a commitment to renegotiate Britain's terms of membership of the EEC and then hold a referendum on whether to remain in the EEC on the new terms.

1975 referendum

Main article: United Kingdom European Communities membership referendum, 1975

In 1975 the United Kingdom held a referendum on whether the UK should remain in the EEC. All of the major political parties and mainstream press supported continuing membership of the EEC. However, there were significant splits within the ruling Labour party, the membership of which had voted 2:1 in favour of withdrawal at a one-day party conference on 26 April 1975. Since the cabinet was split between strongly pro-European and strongly anti-European ministers, Harold Wilson suspended the constitutional convention of Cabinet collective responsibility and allowed ministers to publicly campaign on either side. Seven of the twenty-three members of the cabinet opposed EEC membership.[8]

On 5 June 1975, the electorate were asked to vote yes or no on the question: "Do you think the UK should stay in the European Community (Common Market)?" Every administrative county in the UK had a majority of "Yes", except the Shetland Islands and the Outer Hebrides. In line with the outcome of the vote, the United Kingdom remained a member of the EEC.[9]

Yes votes Yes (%) No votes No (%) Turnout (%)
17,378,581 67.2 8,470,073 32.8 64.5

Between referendums

The opposition Labour Party campaigned in the 1983 general election on a commitment to withdraw from the EEC.[10] It was heavily defeated as the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher was re-elected. The Labour Party subsequently changed its policy.[10]

As a result of the Maastricht Treaty, the EEC became the European Union on 1 November 1993.[11] The organization had evolved from an economic union into a political union. The name change reflected this.[12]

The Referendum Party was formed in 1994 by Sir James Goldsmith to contest the 1997 general election on a platform of providing a referendum on the UK's membership of the EU.[13] It fielded candidates in 547 constituencies at that election and won 810,860 votes, 2.6% of total votes cast.[14] It failed to win a single parliamentary seat as its vote was spread out, losing its deposit (funded by Goldsmith) in 505 constituencies.[14]

The UK Independence Party (UKIP), a Eurosceptic political party, was also formed in 1993. It achieved third place in the UK during the 2004 European elections, second place in the 2009 European elections and first place in the 2014 European elections, with 27.5% of the total vote. This was the first time since the 1910 general election that any party other than the Labour or Conservative parties had taken the largest share of the vote in a nationwide election.[15]

In 2014, UKIP won two by-elections, triggered when the sitting Conservative MPs defected to UKIP and then resigned. These were their first elected MPs. In 2015, the 2015 general election UKIP took 12.6% of the total vote and held one of the two seats won in 2014.[16]

2016 referendum

Main article: United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, 2016

In 2012, Prime Minister David Cameron rejected calls for a referendum on the UK's EU membership, but suggested the possibility of a future referendum to gauge public support.[17][18] According to the BBC, "The prime minister acknowledged the need to ensure the UK's position within the European Union had 'the full-hearted support of the British people' but they needed to show 'tactical and strategic patience'."[19]

In January 2013, Cameron announced that a Conservative government would hold an in-out referendum on EU membership before the end of 2017, on a renegotiated package, if elected in 2015.[20]

The Conservative Party won the 2015 general election with a majority. Soon afterwards the European Union Referendum Act 2015 was introduced into Parliament to enable the referendum. Despite being in favour of remaining in a reformed European Union himself,[21] Cameron announced that Conservative Ministers and MPs were free to campaign in favour of remaining in the EU or leaving it, according to their conscience. This decision came after mounting pressure for a free vote for ministers.[22] In an exception to the usual rule of cabinet collective responsibility, Cameron allowed cabinet ministers to publicly campaign for EU withdrawal.[23]

In a speech to the House of Commons on 22 February 2016,[24] Cameron announced a referendum date of 23 June 2016 and set out the legal framework for withdrawal from the European Union in circumstances where there was a referendum majority vote to leave, citing Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty.[25] Cameron spoke of an intention to trigger the Article 50 process immediately following a leave vote and of the "two-year time period to negotiate the arrangements for exit."[26]

Campaign groups

Main article: Campaigning in the United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, 2016

The official campaign group for leaving the EU was Vote Leave.[27] Other major campaign groups included Leave.EU,[28] Grassroots Out, and Better Off Out,[29] while non-EU affiliated organisations also campaigned for the United Kingdom's withdrawal, such as the Commonwealth Freedom of Movement Organisation.[30]

The official campaign to stay in the EU, chaired by Stuart Rose, was known as Britain Stronger in Europe, or informally as Remain. Other campaigns supporting remaining in the EU included Conservatives In,[31] Labour In for Britain,[32] #INtogether (Liberal Democrats),[33] Greens for a Better Europe,[34] Scientists for EU,[35] Environmentalists For Europe,[36] Universities for Europe[37] and Another Europe is Possible.[38]

Public opinion

Main article: Opinion polling for the United Kingdom European Union membership referendum
Opinion polling for the referendum

Public opinion on whether the UK should leave the EU or stay has varied. An October 2015 analysis of polling suggested that younger voters tend to support remaining in the EU, whereas older voters tend to support leaving, but there is no gender split in attitudes.[39]

Procedure for leaving the EU

Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union provides that: "Any Member State may decide to withdraw from the Union in accordance with its own constitutional requirements."[40] Article 50 was inserted by the Lisbon Treaty in 2007, before which the treaties were silent on the possibility of withdrawal from the European Union. Once a member state has notified the European Council of its intent to leave the EU, a period begins during which a leaving agreement is negotiated setting out the arrangements for the withdrawal and outlining the country's future relationship with the Union. For the agreement to enter into force it needs to be approved by at least 72 percent of the continuing member states representing at least 65 percent of their population, and the consent of the European Parliament.[40] The treaties cease to apply to the member state concerned on the entry into force of the leaving agreement, or in the absence of such an agreement, two years after the member state notified the European Council of its intent to leave, although this period can be extended by unanimous agreement of the European Council.[41] Article 50 termination notice starts a two year period, known as a Sunset Period, when the details of a Withdrawal Agreement are negotiated. If the Sunset Period is not extended beyond the two year period or ratified by unanimous agreement of all Member EU States and if no Withdrawal Agreement is entered into within such two year period, then the UK will automatically cease to be a Member State of the EU after two years.[42] Instead of going through the internal EU process, the UK could also unilaterally withdraw by repealing the enabling European Communities Act 1972 (UK).

As was the case with the Scottish independence referendum two years earlier, the 2016 referendum did not directly require the government to do anything in particular. It does not require the government to initiate, or even schedule, the Article 50 procedure,[40] although David Cameron stated during the campaign that he would invoke Article 50 straight away in the event of a leave victory.[43]

Some[who?] have suggested that a second referendum could be held to "confirm" the decision to leave following negotiations. However, there is no established, formal process for doing so. Alan Renwick of the Constitution Unit of University College London argues that Article 50 negotiations cannot be used to renegotiate the conditions of future membership and that Article 50 does not provide the legal basis of withdrawing a decision to leave.[40] The UK government has stated that they would expect a leave vote to be followed by withdrawal, not by a second vote.[44] EU politicians[who?] largely agree.

Following the referendum result, Cameron announced that he would resign before the Conservative party conference in October, and that it would be for the incoming Prime Minister to invoke Article 50 of the EU Treaty.[45]

However, a petition to the UK Parliament for a second referendum reached over 3.3 million signatures within four days. It asked: "We the undersigned call upon HM Government to implement a rule that if the remain or leave vote is less than 60% based a turnout less than 75% there should be another referendum." The referendum of 23 June fulfils these conditions. Having received more than 100,000 signatures, the petition must receive a government response and be considered for a parliamentary debate.[46]

Subsequent relationship with the remaining EU members

Political system of the European Union

Now that the UK electorate has voted to leave the EU, its subsequent relationship with the remaining EU members could take several forms. A research paper presented to the UK Parliament proposed a number of alternatives to membership which would continue to allow access with the EU internal market. These include remaining in the European Economic Area (EEA) as a European Free Trade Association (EFTA) member, or seeking to negotiate bilateral terms along the Swiss model with a series of interdependent sectoral agreements.[47]

Were the UK to join the EEA as an EFTA member, it would have to sign up to EU internal market legislation without being able to participate in its development or vote on its content. However, the EU is required to conduct extensive consultations with non-EU members beforehand via its many committees and cooperative bodies.[48][49] Some EU law originates from various international bodies on which non-EU EEA countries have a seat.

The EEA Agreement (EU and EFTA members except Switzerland) does not cover Common Agriculture and Fisheries Policies, Customs Union, Common Trade Policy, Common Foreign and Security Policy, direct and indirect taxation, and Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters, leaving EFTA members free to set their own policies in these areas;[50] however, EFTA countries are required to contribute to the EU Budget in exchange for access to the internal market.[51][52]

The EEA Agreement and the agreement with Switzerland cover free movement of goods, and free movement of people.[53][54] Many supporters of Brexit want to restrict freedom of movement,[55] however an EEA Agreement would include free movement for EU and EEA citizens, as passport systems allow EEA institutions to access markets in EU Member States, for the most part, without having to establish subsidiaries in each EU Member State and incur the costs of full authorisation in those jurisdiction.[56] Others[who?] present ideas of a Swiss solution, that is tailor-made agreements between the UK and the EU, but EU representatives have claimed they would not support such a solution.[citation needed] The Swiss agreements contain free movement for EU citizens.[citation needed]

Opinions on the results of a withdrawal

A report by Tim Oliver of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs expanded analysis of what a British withdrawal could mean for the EU: the report argues a UK withdrawal "has the potential to fundamentally change the EU and European integration. On the one hand, a withdrawal could tip the EU towards protectionism, exacerbate existing divisions, or unleash centrifugal forces leading to the EU's unravelling. Alternatively, the EU could free itself of its most awkward member, making the EU easier to lead and more effective."[57]

Immigration

After the announcement of the outcome of the referendum on 24 June 2016, indicating that Britain would leave the European Union, political correspondent for The Guardian Rowena Mason offered the following assessment: "Polling suggests discontent with the scale of migration to the UK has been the biggest factor pushing Britons to vote out, with the contest turning into a referendum on whether people are happy to accept free movement in return for free trade."[58] A Times columnist, Philip Collins, went a step further in his analysis: "This was a referendum about immigration disguised as a referendum about the European Union."[59] Other media published similar comments and David Cameron confirmed this perspective on 28 June 2016 while addressing heads of European countries, stating that anxieties about unrestricted freedom of movement were key to the success of the Leave campaign.[60]

The Conservative MEP representing South East England, Daniel Hannan, predicted on BBC Newsnight that the level of immigration would remain high after Brexit:[61] "Frankly, if people watching think that they have voted and there is now going to be zero immigration from the EU, they are going to be disappointed. ... you will look in vain for anything that the Leave campaign said at any point that ever suggested there would ever be any kind of border closure or drawing up of the drawbridge."[62]

Economic effects

The UK treasury have estimated that being in the EU has a strong positive effect on trade and as a result the UK's trade would be worse off if it left the EU.[63]

Supporters of withdrawal from the EU have argued that by ceasing to make a net contribution to the EU would allow for some cuts to taxes and/or increases in government spending.[64] However, Britain would still be required to make contributions to the EU budget if it opted to remain in the European Free Trade Area.[51] The Institute for Fiscal Studies notes that most majority of forecasts of the impact of Brexit on the UK economy would leave the government with less money to spend even if it no longer had to pay into the EU.[65]

Former Chancellor of the Exchequer Norman Lamont argued that if Britain left the EU, the EU would not impose retaliatory tariffs on British products, pointing out that the EU needed a trade agreement with Britain as German car manufacturers wanted to sell their cars to the world's fifth biggest market.[66] Lamont argued that the EFTA option was irrelevant and that Britain and the EU would agree on a trade pact which tailored to Britain's needs.[66]

James Dyson argued that it would be self-defeating for the EU to impose retaliatory tariffs on British products because if the EU imposed a tariff on Britain, Britain would impose a retaliatory tariff on the EU, claiming that Britain bought 100 billion pounds worth of the EU's goods and sold 10 billion pounds worth of Britain's goods.[67] However, proportionally, the government responded that "EU exports to the UK are worth 3% of EU GDP, while UK exports to the EU are worth 13% of UK GDP – four times more."[68]

On 15 June 2016, Vote Leave, the official Leave campaign, presented its roadmap to lay out what would happen if Britain left the EU.[69] The blueprint suggested that Parliament would pass laws: Finance Bill to scrap VAT on tampons and household energy bills; Asylum and Immigration Control Bill to end the automatic right of EU citizens to enter Britain; National Health Service (Funding Target) Bill to get an extra 100 million pounds a week; European Union Law (Emergency Provisions) Bill; Free Trade Bill to start to negotiate its own deals with non-EU countries; and European Communities Act 1972 (Repeal) Bill to end the European Court of Justice's jurisdiction over Britain and stop making contribution to the EU budget.[69]

Many nations may gain benefits from Brexit. One example is the potential for increased real estate prices in New York.[70] Many attorneys worry about the potential for contracts to be invalidated for Frustration of Purpose.[71]

Former Bundesbank President Axel Weber said that leaving the EU would not deal a major blow to London's status as one of the top financial hubs.[72]

On 24 June 2016, the bond and credit rating agency of Moody's, on the basis of the result of the referendum, downgraded the UK's standing as a long-term debt issuer and the country's debt rating outlook to "negative" from "stable," while retaining the overall rating of Aa1.[73] Credit rating agency Standard & Poor's, the only major agency to still assigning Britain the top, triple-A grade, had stated before Thursday's referendum that Britain was likely to face a downgrade if it voted to leave, while Fitch Ratings stated on Friday that the vote would be "moderately negative" for the country's rating.[74] On the other hand, economic analysts have pointed out that the UK, as a fiscally and monetarily sovereign nation, retains the ability to service or retire, at any time, any part or all of the state debt that is denominated in the national currency, and, hence, there is no risk whatsoever of defaulting on that part of its debt.[75]

During a press conference on 27 June 2016, Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne attempted to reassure financial markets that the UK economy was not in serious trouble. This came after media reports that a survey by the Institute of Directors suggested that two thirds of businesses believed that the outcome of the referendum would produce negative results as well as the dropping value of the sterling and the FTSE 100 which began on Friday, 24 June 2016. British businesses had also predicted that investment cuts, hiring freezes and redundancies would be necessary to cope with the results of the referendum.[76] Osborne indicated that Britain was facing the future "from a position of strength" and there was no current need for an emergency Budget.[77] "No one should doubt our resolve to maintain the fiscal stability we have delivered for this country .... And to companies, large and small, I would say this: the British economy is fundamentally strong, highly competitive and we are open for business."[78]

Later that afternoon, the sterling was at a 31-year low against the Dollar, having fallen 11% in two trading days and the FTSE 100 index had surrendered £85 billion.[79] And the UK was stripped of its AAA credit rating by Standard & Poor's, down to AA, with the following comment: "In our opinion, this outcome is a seminal event, and will lead to a less predictable, stable, and effective policy framework in the U.K. ... The negative outlook reflects the risk to economic prospects, fiscal and external performance, and the role of sterling as a reserve currency..." Fitch's degraded the credit rating from "AA+" to "AA" because of "uncertainty following the referendum outcome will induce an abrupt slowdown in short-term GDP growth...".[80] Moody's downgraded the outlook for British-based banks and on some categories of British government debt.[81]

Long-term economic prospects

European experts from the World Pensions Forum and the University of Bath have argued that, beyond short-lived market volatility, the long term economic prospects of Britain remain high, notably in terms of country attractiveness and foreign direct investment: "Country risk experts we spoke to are confident the UK's economy will remain robust in the event of an exit from the EU. 'The economic attractiveness of Britain will not go down and a trade war with London is in no one's interest,' says M Nicolas Firzli, director-general of the World Pensions Council (WPC) and advisory board member for the World Bank Global Infrastructure Facility [...] Bruce Morley, lecturer in economics at the University of Bath, goes further to suggest that the long-term benefits to the UK of leaving the Union, such as less regulation and more control over Britain's trade policy, could outweigh the short-term uncertainty observed in the [country risk] scores."[82]

Possible secessions: Scotland, Northern Ireland and Gibraltar

Leading figures both supportive and not of Scottish independence have suggested that in the event the UK as a whole votes to leave the EU but Scotland as a whole votes to remain in the EU (as it has transpired), a second Scottish independence referendum may be precipitated.[83][84] Former Labour Scottish First Minister Henry McLeish has said that he would support Scottish independence under such circumstances.[85] It has also been pointed out that upon the UK's exit from the EU, many of the powers and competencies of the EU institutions would be repatriated to Holyrood and not Westminster.[86] Currently, Scotland exports three and a half times more to the rest of the UK than to the rest of the EU.[87] The pro-union Scotland in Union has suggested that an independent Scotland within the EU would face trade barriers with a post-Brexit UK and face additional costs for re-entry to the EU.[87]

Enda Kenny, the Taoiseach of Ireland, has warned that a UK exit of the European Union could damage the Northern Ireland peace process.[88] Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers denounced the suggestion as "scaremongering of the worst possible kind".[89] It has been suggested by a member of Germany's parliamentary finance committee that a "bilateral solution" between the UK and Ireland could be negotiated quickly after a leave vote.[90] On 24 June 2016, following the UK's vote to leave the EU, Northern Ireland's Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness called for a referendum on Irish reunification.[91]

In 2015, Chief Minister of Gibraltar Fabian Picardo suggested that Gibraltar would attempt to remain part of the EU in the event the UK voted to leave,[92] but reaffirmed that, regardless of the result, the territory would remain British.[93] In a letter to the UK Foreign Affairs Select Committee, he requested that Gibraltar be considered in negotiations post-Brexit.[94] Spain's foreign minister José García-Margallo said Spain would seek talks on Gibraltar the "very next day" after a British exit from the EU.[95]

Border with France and Belgium

The Mayor of Saint-Quentin Xavier Bertrand stated in February 2016 that "If Britain leaves Europe, right away the border will leave Calais and go to Dover. We will not continue to guard the border for Britain if it's no longer in the European Union" indicating that the juxtaposed controls would end with a leave vote. French Finance Minister Emmanuel Macron also suggested the agreement would be "threatened" by a leave vote.[96] These claims have been disputed, as the Le Touquet treaty enabling juxtaposed controls was not debated from within the EU, and would not be legally void upon leaving.[97] After Brexit vote, Xavier Bertrand asked François Hollande to break Touquet agreement, which would take into effect within two years [98]

Academic funding via EU system

UK universities rely on the EU for around 16% of their total research funding, and are disproportionately successful at winning EU-awarded research grants. This has raised questions about how such funding would be impacted by a British exit.[99]

St George's, University of London professor Angus Dalgleish pointed out that Britain paid much more into the EU research budget than it received, and that existing European collaboration such as CERN and European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) began long before the Lisbon Treaty, adding that leaving the EU would not damage Britain's science.[100]

London School of Economics emeritus professor Alan Sked pointed out that non-EU countries such as Israel and Switzerland signed agreements with the EU in terms of the funding of collaborative research and projects, and suggested that if Britain left the EU, Britain would be able to reach a similar agreement with the EU, pointing out that educated people and research bodies would easily find some financial arrangement during an at least 2-year transition period which was related to Article 50 of Treaty of European Union (TEU).[101]

Political effects

Former Chairman of the Conservative Party Norman Tebbit said that David Cameron should resign as prime minister if the UK voted for an EU exit. According to a poll conducted by Ipsos MORI in late March 2016, 48 per cent of UK voters thought that Cameron should resign if the UK voted to leave the EU.[102] David Cameron said that he would stay in office after the referendum, while former Chancellor of the Exchequer Kenneth Clarke said that the Prime Minister would not last 30 seconds if Britain voted to leave the EU.[103] After the withdrawal from the EU was passed, Cameron announced that he would resign around October.[104]

The right-wing Dutch populist Geert Wilders said that the Netherlands should follow Britain's example and hold a referendum on whether Netherlands should stay in the European Union.[105]

Voting result

The ballot.
Main article: Results of the United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, 2016

According to the BBC the first results were expected around midnight on 23 June, with the full results by breakfast time on 24 June. Gibraltar was the first British voting zone to report the voting results, ending in a "Remain" vote for the British Overseas Territory.[106] Though initially behind, Leave scored early victories in England, including a significant win in Sunderland by a margin of more than 20%, pulling ahead in the general count. Remain briefly retook a small lead with wide-margin wins in Scotland, Northern Ireland, and London but soon fell behind again and never closed the gap. The BBC then projected a win for the Leave campaign.[107]

On the morning of 24 June, the result from the vote was that the United Kingdom had voted to leave the European Union 52% to 48%.[108][109]

United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, 2016
Choice Votes  %
Leave the European Union 17,410,742 51.89
Remain a member of the European Union 16,141,241 48.11
Valid votes 33,551,983 99.92
Invalid or blank votes 25,359 0.08
Total votes 33,577,342 100.00
Registered voters and turnout 46,501,241 72.2%
Source: [110]
Referendum results (without spoiled ballots)
Leave:
17,410,742 (51.9%)		 Remain:
16,141,241 (48.1%)
▲

After the vote to leave was confirmed David Cameron did not immediately invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, which is necessary in order to begin the formal process of withdrawal. Instead, he announced that he would resign as Prime Minister prior to the Conservative party conference in October 2016 and stated the following:

A negotiation with the European Union will need to begin under a new Prime Minister, and I think it is right that this new Prime Minister takes the decision about when to trigger Article 50 and start the formal and legal process of leaving the EU.

— David Cameron, "EU referendum outcome: PM statement, 24 June 2016". gov.uk. Retrieved 25 June 2016. 

Petition for a new referendum

Within hours of the result's announcement, a petition, calling for a second referendum to be held in the event that a result was secured with less than 60% of the vote and on a turnout of less than 75%, attracted tens of thousands of new signatures. The petition had been initiated by William Oliver Healey of the English Democrats on 23 May 2016, when the Remain faction had been leading in the polls.[111] On 26 June Healey made it clear on his Facebook page[112] that the petition had actually been started to favour an exit from the EU and that he was a strong supporter of the Vote Leave and Grassroots Out campaigns. Healey also claimed that the petition had been "hijacked by the remain campaign".[113] Some of the signatures were alleged to be fraudulent. On 26 June, the House of Commons' Petitions Committee posted the following note on its Twitter account: "We have removed about 77,000 signatures which were added fraudulently. We will continue to monitor for suspicious activity."[114]

By 10:40 pm on 28 June it had attracted 4,000,003 signatures, about one quarter of the total number of remain votes in the referendum and over forty times the 100,000 needed for any petition to be considered for debate in Parliament. As many as a thousand signatures per minute were being added during the day after the referendum vote, causing the website to crash on several occasions.[115][116]

An official petition, to stop Article 50 of the Treaty of European Union being invoked, was also initiated at Change.org.[citation needed]

On 27 June 2016, the Prime Minister's spokesperson stated that holding another vote on Britain's membership to the European Union was "not remotely on the cards."[117]

Invoking article 50 of the European Treaty

The United Kingdom can now invoke article 50 of the European Treaty, which is the formal article in the European Union Treaty which deals with an exit from the union.[118] After a plausible British invocation of article 50, a negotiation period begins, which has a maximum duration of two years (counted from the invoking date, not the referendum date). If the negotiations are not finished within a duration of two years, then current negotiations between the UK and other EU countries will cease unless all countries agree to an extension. New treaties between the UK and the EU-countries could become more complicated, as the UK will leave the EU regardless of the negotiations.[119] It is the Prime Minister's decision when to announce the article 50 withdrawal.[119]

If the Prime Minister delays invocation of article 50, the negotiations cannot begin and the UK will formally be treated as a member of the EU, and must continue to fulfill all EU-related treaties, including possible future agreements. The EU has no framework to exclude the UK—or any member—as long as article 50 is not invoked.[120][121]

This does not prevent informal negotiations to take place, for example through media. Such media statements began quickly. For example, on June 29 the EU stated that the UK must either accept the four freedoms or there will be no further trade negotiations[citation needed].

Cameron has made it clear that the next Prime Minister should activate article 50 and begin negotiations with the EU.[122] During a 27 June 2016 meeting, Cabinet decided to establish a unit of civil servants, headed by senior Conservative Oliver Letwin, who would proceed with "intensive work on the issues that will need to be worked through in order to present options and advice to a new Prime Minister and a new Cabinet", said the PM's spokesperson.[123]

Cameron was in Brussels on 28 June 2016 for his final summit with the EU and planned to address members. "I'll be explaining that Britain will be leaving the European Union but I want that process to be as constructive as possible ... while we're leaving the European Union, we mustn't be turning our backs on Europe. These countries are our neighbours, our friends, our allies, our partners and I very much hope we'll seek the closest possible relationship in terms of trade and cooperation and security".[124]

After a debate about the planned UK exit on 28 June 2016, the EU Parliament passed a motion for an "immediate" triggering of Article 50, although there is no mechanism allowing the EU to invoke the article.[125]

See also

References

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