MPs must accept referendum, deliver Brexit: British PM

Prime Minister Theresa May on Sunday called on British MPs to accept people’s verdict favouring UK’s exit from the EU and work on delivering Brexit, days after a high court ruled that a parliamentary approval is mandatory to trigger the proceedings.

In a statement issued before she left for her India visit, May said “while others seek to tie our negotiating hands, the government will get on with the job of delivering the decision of the British people.

“It was MPs who overwhelmingly decided to put the decision in their hands. The result was clear. It was legitimate. MPs and peers who regret the referendum result need to accept what the people decided,” she said.

Her comments came three days after the London High Court ruled that Prime Minister May did not have the right to use her executive power to trigger Article 50 of the EU’s Lisbon treaty. May, however, said she is confident of winning an appeal in the Supreme Court against the High Court ruling. The government appeal against the High Court verdict is expected to be considered by the Supreme Court early next month. 

May has said she still plans to launch talks on the terms of Brexit by the end of March, 2017. “We need to turn our minds to how we get the best outcome for our country,” she said. “That means sticking to our plan and timetable, getting on with the work of developing our negotiating strategy and not putting all our cards on the table that is not in our national interest and it won’t help us get the best deal for Britain,” she added. 

Opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has said he will not seek to reverse the referendum result. But, he told the ‘Sunday Mirror’ that he would vote against Article 50 unless May agreed to press for continued access to the European single market and guarantee EU workplace rights after Brexit.