Theresa May slams campaigners calling for a second Brexit referendum as a ‘gross betrayal’ of trust
THERESA May has faced down calls for a second Brexit vote, declaring it a “gross betrayal” of trust.
The PM promised not to give in to activists demanding another referendum — saying millions voted to leave the EU two years ago.
Speaking ahead of MPs returning to Westminster this week, Mrs May said voters “trusted that their vote would count; that after years of feeling ignored by politics, their voices would be heard”.
She said: “To ask the question all over again would be a gross betrayal of our democracy — and a betrayal of that trust.”
Writing in The Sunday Telegraph, Mrs May pledged she will not surrender to Brussels in her negotiations over Brexit.
She said: “I will not be pushed into accepting compromises on the Chequers proposals that are not in our national interest.”
It came as senior Labour figures refused to rule out another membership vote.
Campaign group People’s Vote is focused on changing Labour party policy to back another ballot.
Shadow Brexit Secretary Keir Starmer said a second referendum should be “on the table” if Parliament shuns the PM’s EU exit deal.
Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab has said he is “stubbornly optimistic” about getting a deal with Brussels.
A divorce agreement and statement on a future trade deal are set to be agreed this autumn before MPs vote on departure terms.
Progress has been made on security, defence and legal issues but the “backstop” plan for the Northern Ireland border must be made a “matter of urgency”, says the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier.
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THERESA May is right to scold the politicians, activists and celebrities calling for a second referendum.
The demands for a “people’s vote” on a final Brexit deal are increasingly shrill. These celebrity millionaire luvvies are either wilfully ignorant or they really just don’t get it, do they?
Do they have any idea of the anger that would be unleashed if they stopped Brexit? What’s more, do they care?
More than 17million people voted to leave the EU. Most have not changed their minds. They want our politicians to get on with it.
Mrs May has also claimed that she is going to start focusing on her domestic agenda. About time.
Away from Twitter and Westminster, voters aren’t worried about the latest Project Fear smear.
They care about the NHS, schools, being able to afford a home, and money in their pockets. Mrs May said she was the PM for the “Just About Managings”. She has the chance to build an economy that, in her words, “works for everyone”.
Last week, she was right to call for foreign aid to be used to assist Britain’s trade in Africa. It was even refreshing to see the PM show some character through her dancing. OK, she won’t win Strictly, but it was at least endearing. As with most of her premiership, Mrs May mustered her best in an awkward situation.
This approach helps explain why a poll shows that Tory voters believe she is the figure who can unite Britain, ahead of other leadership prospects.
Meanwhile, Liam Fox writes on this page that Britain should be confident going forward as an independent nation.
There might finally be light at the end of the Brexit tunnel.
Let’s just hope it is not a Eurostar coming at us in the opposite direction.
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Meanwhile, Tory voters reckon Mrs May is the politician best placed to unite the country after the UK leaves the EU next March.
She scored plus 22 per cent in a poll.
Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson was second with a score of plus seven.
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