Craig Mackinlay
Main Page: Craig Mackinlay (Conservative - South Thanet)Department Debates - View all Craig Mackinlay's debates with the Leader of the House
(5 years, 3 months ago)
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Andrea Leadsom
There very much was a people’s vote. That was in June 2016, and the people decided to leave the European Union.
Craig Mackinlay (South Thanet) (Con)
Will the Leader of the House confirm that the very act of the Prime Minister signing what is, in effect, an amendment to the Lisbon treaty under royal prerogative makes whatever we have to say on the matter of an extension rather irrelevant?
Andrea Leadsom
This House voted on 14 March for a short extension of article 50. At the time, the Prime Minister made it very clear that if this House were to vote for that short extension, she would seek to negotiate it but that she could not be certain what the EU would offer in return. My hon. Friend is right. The Prime Minister agreed a short extension. That was not necessarily every individual’s definition of exactly what that should be, but she agreed it on behalf of the United Kingdom. As such, in international law, the date of our exit from the EU has now changed irreversibly to 12 April, or to 22 May if we have agreed to progress with the withdrawal agreement.