Brexit leader Nigel Farage has blasted Theresa May’s Florence speech as a betrayal, after the Prime Minister said she’d be keeping Britain in the EU until 2021 through a transitional deal and left the door open to paying a significant Brexit bill.
Speaking to Breitbart London Friday afternoon, Nigel Farage said of the PM’s speech: “May’s vision for Brexit Britain is that we leave in name only and that all current arrangements, the status quo, is simply to be rebadged.
“In trade, security, science, she proposes no change whatsoever. And finally, most tellingly she said ‘we do not seek an unfair competitive advantage’. That statement is a sell out of our national interest, and a betrayal of Brexit.”
Spoke to @Nigel_Farage who told me @theresa_may speech was a "betrayal of Brexit" and nothing but the "status quo" https://t.co/c7gXV3dd7R pic.twitter.com/uZA268gbIH
— Oliver JJ Lane (@oliver_lane) September 22, 2017
Chairman of the senior Conservative think-tank The Bow Group Ben Harris-Quinney said the so-called transitional period must end before the next general election, remarking: “Almost every facet of the British establishment thinks leaving the EU is a bad idea, Brexiteers cannot accept a situation in which they are in charge of an open-ended transition, potentially beyond the next general election.”
In a statement on the speech, the group said: “The Prime Minister has not placed an end date on the suggested “transitional period”, meaning it may well extend beyond this government to a government of different colour, who back remaining in the EU or the Single Market.”
Before the speech there was speculation over whether the Prime Minister intended to use the speech to hold Britain in the Union well beyond the promised March 2019 exit date, and whether she will make an offer to the Union to pay a so-called Brexit bill. In both cases it appears the concerns were justified.
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