The Referendum will be the point in time that history calls ‘the event,’ but it was the new Prime Minister Theresa May who in October gave us the date for the true main event, when she told us the UK will invoke Article 50 — the official legal notification to its EU partners that it is going to leave the EU — “No later than the end of March 2017.”
Once this formal process begins, Britain will have two years to agree on the terms of its relationship with other EU countries, meaning it is set to exit the EU by March 2019 or before.
The City of London is deeply engaged with Government seeking to find the best post Brexit outcomes for the UK and City economy. I will be adding content on that in the coming weeks.
I have also been very fortunate to be able to meet with Liam Fox MP our Secretary of State for International Trade and discuss his plans for our future trade arrangements. His comments on explaining his intellectual and philosophical case for free trade are encouraging. He also explained his view that we must ensure that the forces of globalisation do not leave people behind by ensuring that the fruits of our success are targeted into the right investments – in infrastructure, training and skills, so that the benefits of trade help build a fairer economy that works for all, not just the privileged few. In the coming months I will periodically report on what his department are reporting and look forward to seeing how he plans to achieve these aims.
Recent key points of the Brexit process announced include:
• The UK government plans a ‘Great Repeal Bill’ to revoke the 1972 European Communities Act. The Bill will come into force at the point Brexit takes effect, will convert existing laws that are derived from the EU into purely domestic legislation. Later they can then be amended, scrapped or left as they are, according to the UK Parliament’s wishes.
• The bill will be included in the next Queen’s Speech, which sets out the government’s legislative programme for the coming year.
This process is intended to give businesses and workers maximum certainty as the UK leaves the European Union. Existing workers’ legal rights will continue to be guaranteed in law, as will investments in the UK and so even in 2019 nothing will change in terms of doing business.
Additionally I was able to meet with David Davis MP the Secretary of State for the Exiting of the EU. He is very much aware of the City's concerns. He has already engaged with EU partners to discuss the importance of the City of London to Europe as a whole. He intends to ensure a smooth and orderly exit from the European Union and has stressed it would not be in the interests of either the EU or Britain to see disruption. Again I will periodically report back on announcements from his department.