Extending Article 50 would prolong uncertainty and act as a Trojan Horse for Remain
4 min read
Day-after-day the latest project fear nonsense about no deal is being dismantled. MPs have a duty to deliver on their word and ensure we leave the EU on 29th March, writes Iain Duncan Smith
There are some in Parliament who are calling for an extension of Article 50. They repeat this call as if it resolves the Brexit impasse, yet any casual observer would recognise that such an extension makes no sense unless we have concluded an arrangement and need more time to get the legislation though. Any delay without practical purpose is an enormous waste of time.
After all, a short delay of a couple of months simply puts off the moment when a decision has to be made about leaving without a withdrawal agreement. Many outside Westminster are growing impatient that those who now make these proposals have not really accepted the result of the referendum and they are working to frustrate the public vote to leave.
It is hard to conclude otherwise as it becomes clear that this is a Trojan Horse to achieve a long delay, opening the door to a second referendum, or even a hybrid membership of the EEA plus membership of the customs union. So the referendum in which 17.4 million voted to leave, would be change from leave to not leave or not really leave.
I have a genuine worry that Parliament is being seen, by those who voted to leave and others, as a place determined to undermine the result of the 2016 referendum.
Talk of a people’s vote is patronising as we’ve had the people’s vote and the people voted leave. What confidence can voters have in the democratic process when Parliament seems so set against upholding the referendum result?
When 17.4 million people voted Leave in June 2016 the mandate was not conditional. Prior to the referendum David Cameron made clear that if the UK voted to leave then Article 50 would be triggered immediately. There was no caveat that Britain would go into a negotiation and if unsuccessful revoke Article 50 and remain in the EU. The day after the referendum, Jeremy Corbyn went further when he called for the immediate triggering of Article 50. There was no mention of delay or a second referendum.
Increasingly governments and businesses in the EU are saying that they do not want an extension to Article 50. The head of the BDI, Germany’s equivalent to the CBI, has stated in no uncertain terms that a no-deal Brexit would be preferable to an extension. German companies are prepared for a no deal in March, “the economy can live better with bad conditions than with uncertainty”.
It’s not only our European counterparts who are prepared, this week the Bank of England have stated the UK’s financial system is prepared for a no-deal Brexit. The Netherlands have acted unilaterally to give UK asset managers an exemption that will allow services to operate uninterrupted regardless of the circumstances in which the UK leaves the EU.
They all know that no deal is a misnomer. No deal is in fact no to this withdrawal agreement. The EU is already making plans for a 10-month implementation phase if a minimal agreement is the final terms of out departure.
Day-after-day the latest project fear nonsense is being dismantled, the public now know with certainty that airplanes will not be grounded, ports won’t go into meltdown, and medicines will still be imported. The UK’s nuclear sector is now entirely no deal ready, trade in animals, plants and food will continue, and our car manufacturers have already obtained approvals to sell their models in the EU. Project fear has become project fatuous.
There is no rational reason to extend Article 50 it will just cause prolonged uncertainty. Worse, any attempts to delay beyond June will require the UK to participate in the European Parliament elections and this will be, quite simply, farcical. Imagine a group of UK MEPs sitting in the European Parliament long after we have left.
Those who voted to trigger Article 50, those who voted to endorse the referendum, and those who stood on manifestos when 80% of the voting public backed have a simple duty to deliver on their votes: that means leaving on 29th March 2019.
Iain Duncan Smith is Conservative MP for Chingford & Woodford Green
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