United Kingdom Prime Minister Theresa May will put forward legislation on Jan. 26 to enable the British government to pull out of the European Union, Bloomberg News reported Wednesday, citing an unnamed “person familiar with the situation.”
Ms. May’s latest move follows Tuesday’s ruling by the U.K. Supreme Court that held that Parliament has to give its OK to rescinding Britain’s membership in the European Union and will come the eve of her planned Friday trip to meet President Trump in Washington.
For her part the British prime minister has suggested that the so-called Brexit presents the U.K. with a golden opportunity for favorable trade deals with various longtime allies, particularly the United States.
According to Bloomberg a “short tightly worded bill would help the government rush the legislation through Parliament before its self-imposed deadline to begin exit talks by the end of March.”
Nearly 52 percent of British voters approved pulling out of the European Union on June 23, 2016. The result startled political prognosticators and the country’s political establishment and precipitated the earlier-than-expected resignation of Prime Minister David Cameron, who led a cross-party coalition of opponents of leaving the European Union.
Thus far the Independent newspaper reports there are 75 Members of Parliament, who have suggested if not outright pledged to vote against the bill authorizing Ms. May’s government to execute the so-called Brexit. The vast majority of those hail from the Scottish National Party, a party whose stated aim is Scotland’s secession from the United Kingdom.
In Ms. May’s own Conservative Party, only pro-Europe MP Kenneth Clarke is thus far on record against the pending legislation, reported the Independent.
• Ken Shepherd can be reached at kshepherd@washingtontimes.com.
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