David Davis, the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, has told eurocrats to “be in no doubt” that Britain is leaving the bloc.
The Brexit secretary’s comments come as formal negotiations between the United Kingdom and the EU are set to commence, and shortly after EU leaders such as French president Emmanuel Macron have attempted to encourage Remain campaign diehards by saying “the door is always open” to staying.
“It’s not for me to know whether we have to come back on that decision,” he told reporters at a recent conference with Theresa May, “[but] as long as the decision of the organisation of this exit hasn’t been completed, then there’s still the possibility of reopening it.”
The European Parliament’s chosen negotiator, former Belgian prime minister Guy Verhofstadt, has also said the public vote on June 23rd 2016 could be reversed – although he warned that the door to reentry would be “A brand new door with a new Europe, a Europe without rebates, without complexity, with real power and with unity. That is the door towards Europe.”
But a statement released on the official Government website, titled ‘David Davis heads to Brussels tomorrow with a clear message: we are leaving the European Union’, indicates that the Brexit secretary is determined to avoid abandoning his mission in favour of returning to the EU fold on worse terms.
“As I head to Brussels to open official talks to leave the EU, there should be no doubt – we are leaving the European Union, and delivering on that historic referendum result,” Davis said.
“Leaving gives us the opportunity to forge a bright new future for the UK – one where we are free to control our borders, pass our own laws and do what independent sovereign countries do.
“We will soon introduce bills for new immigration and customs arrangements, and the Great Repeal Bill will transpose all EU law into UK law, providing certainty for businesses.”
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