A group of Conservatives including high-profile backbench MPs have established a ‘Leave means Leave’ group to keep the pressure up on the government in the run-up to Brexit negotiations with the European Union.
Members of parliament including former justice minister Dominic Raab, former environment secretary Own Paterson, and former defence minister Sir Gerald Howarth sit ont he board of the group, which is chaired by property magnate Richard Tice, reports the Daily Telegraph.
Labour Leave leader and donor John Mills is also a supporter.
The chairman said at the launch of the group of his view on the preferred direction of travel for Britain during the Brexit negotiations: “On 23 June the British people made it clear that they wanted to leave the EU. There should be no compromise on this. The sooner we leave the more certainty and confidence for everyone. It should be a maximum of two years post serving article 50.
“Non-EU countries will know when we can sign trade deals and the EU will know we are serious. Also consumers and businesses can draw confidence that we are a globally focused strong economy. Let’s be clear: no deal is better than a bad deal”.
The group wants the government to activate article 50 before the end of 2016, whether it has secured a deal with the European Union or not. The group could lead backbench unrest against Theresa May’s government if she fails to follow through with her promise that “Brexit means Brexit”, according to reports.
The group calls their preferred vision of Britain out of the European Union, as opposed to a re-negotiated association where the United Kingdom has performed a technical departure but still remains a member of the European Union’s institutions and is bound by their law “hard Brexit”.
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