Outcome of the EU Referendum Debate

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Department: Cabinet Office

Outcome of the EU Referendum

Mike Wood Excerpts
Monday 27th June 2016

(8 years, 4 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Mike Wood Portrait Mike Wood (Dudley South) (Con)
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Succinct thanks to the Prime Minister, but what assessment has he made of the opportunities for preliminary negotiations before triggering article 50?

Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton Portrait The Prime Minister
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The assessment I have made is that it is a national sovereign decision to trigger article 50, so it is right for this Government to prepare the ground and for the next Government to choose the model they think is the right one to pursue, to hold some discussions and then to trigger the article 50 process. Just so the House fully understands, that has a two-year limit that can be extended only by a unanimous vote of all the other 27 members. At the end of that two-year period, if you do not have an arrangement, you then move to World Trade Organisation rules, so it is right that we go about this deliberately and sensibly, in order to get the best deal for our country.