Days before hundreds of thousands of people are expected to march in London demanding a second referendum, a local MP said tonight that it would not happen.
Maidenhead MP Theresa May, whose constituency includes parts of Wokingham borough, appeared at 10 Downing Street to give an update on Brexit.
Earlier this week, the Speaker of the House of Commons had turned down a chance for Mrs May to present her deal to Parliament for a third time after it had been decisively rejected: the largest ever defeat for a Prime Minister.
Today, Mrs May wrote to the EU President Donald Tusk to request a short delay on Britain leaving the European Union. As it stands, the country will leave next weekend with no deal unless this extension is agreed.
In her statement, which started half-an-hour late, she admitted that the UK will not now leave on time.
“It is a matter of personal regret,” she admitted.
She promised people who had voted leave in the 2016 referendum that she was “on your side” and that it was now “a matter for MPs to decide” whether they wanted to leave with a deal that would protect jobs, leave without a deal, or not leave at all.
This third option, she warned, would lead to the breaking of “irrevocable trust” in politicians and the UK’s democratic system.
“It’s high time we made a decision,” she said. “I passionately hope MPs will find a way to back my deal.
“I am not prepared to delay Brexit beyond June 30.”
She also said that if there was a longer delay it would mean that the UK would take part in the European elections on May 2, something she felt would be “bitter and divisive”, adding that the UK had delivered its verdict three years ago.
“You gave us your answer and want us to get on with it. That is what I am determined to do,” she said.
Earlier this week, Wokingham MP John Redwood gave his support to the Speaker, John Bercow, for rejecting a third vote on Theresa May’s Brexit deal.
My interview on @BBCNews https://t.co/2PcJDHYuII
— John Redwood (@johnredwood) March 19, 2019
On Saturday, a group of Wokingham people who want to stay in the EU will be heading to London to take part in a protest. The group, from Berkshire in Europe, will meet at Wokingham’s railway station at 8am, and at Reading at 9am.
