Conservative Brexiteer Iain Duncan Smith has warned his colleagues in government against betraying party promises to the electorate to deliver Brexit by March 29th.
Speaking on Radio 4’s Today programme, the former Conservative Party leader said, “The government has got to tread very carefully, here, and I’ve got a message for my colleagues in government who seem to think the longer they go on the more they can frustrate the will of the people: there will be repercussions if we do not deliver on the Brexit vote and on our manifesto from 2017.”
The former minister’s words come after Sky News reported that Prime Minister Theresa May will write to Brussels asking for a ‘short’ extension to Article 50 today, after speculation this week that she would attempt to agree an extension of up to a year.
Brussels’ Brexit coordinator Michel Barnier made it clear on Tuesday that the bloc was ready for a no deal exit, telling the UK to likewise “finalise preparations for a no deal” unless it has a good reason and a plan for an extension, and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker told the UK to not expect the EU27 to come to a decision this week.
“The British people will want to know why it was we failed to do what we said we would do which was leave after two years of negotiations on March 29th,” Mr Duncan Smith continued.
“I hear one Cabinet Minister said, ‘That is what we have said, week in, week out.’ The prime minister said it as well that whatever happens we will be leaving there will be no extension.”
There was reportedly a Cabinet row at Tuesday morning’s meeting over the delay, with ministers losing patience with the prime minister over her refusal to tell her own team the length of delay she would be seeking with the EU, with some ministers suspecting she was considering up to two years, according to sources speaking to The Telegraph.
Faith in British politicians to deliver on the will of the people is at a low, with a ComRes poll finding Tuesday that a strong majority of Britons do not trust MPs to “do the right thing” by the country over Brexit, a sentiment echoed by IDS who said Wednesday, “People are really losing faith with politicians when they ask them a question and they give a simple answer — which is leave — and they do everything they can to frustrate that process.”
The Telegraph also reported Tuesday night that if an agreement on an extension date is not granted by Monday, the government will implement no deal exiting plans entitled, “Operation Yellowhammer.”
Brexit secretary Stephen Barclay reportedly wrote in a letter to Cabinet ministers, “Operation Yellowhammer command and control structures will be enacted fully on 25 March unless a new exit date has been agreed between the UK and the EU.”
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