British Prime Minister Theresa May has finally set a date, saying on Sunday that her country will begin the process of leaving the European Union by the end of March. That means Britain is likely to leave the 28-nation bloc by the spring of 2019.
Although May was scant on details she did make clear that her government has every intention of respecting the Brexit vote as soon as possible. “Even now, some politicians—democratically-elected politicians—say that the referendum isn’t valid, that we need to have a second vote,” May said at her first Tory Party conference as prime minister. “But come on. The referendum result was clear. It was legitimate. It was the biggest vote for change this country has ever known. Brexit means Brexit—and we’re going to make a success of it.”
Even as May gave the most detailed timeline yet on Brexit, there are still lots of questions about what Brexit will actually look like. The prime minister did suggest though that any Brexit process would have to put limits on immigration at the forefront of any negotiations with the European Union. “Apart from the message of leaving the European Union, I think there was also a clear message from the British people that they wanted us to control movement of people from the EU coming into the UK, so we will deliver on that,” she said.
Although May said that it was a “false dichotomy” to talk about “hard Brexit” vs “soft Brexit,” European leaders have long said that Britain would not be allowed to hold on to the trade benefits that are associated with EU membership if it doesn’t also allow for the free movement of people across European borders.
“We are going to be a fully independent, sovereign country—a country that is no longer part of a political union with supranational institutions that can override national parliaments and courts,” May said.
