Britain presents its Brexit policy document to Parliament

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IANS | 03 Feb, 2017
Britain's government presented its formal Brexit policy document to Parliament's lower chamber on Thursday, a day after lawmakers voted overwhelmingly in favour of giving the Prime Minister the power to trigger the withdrawal.

The so-called white paper, which was drawn up after lawmakers petitioned the government for more transparency on its Brexit aims, was presented to the House of Commons by the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, David Davis.

"This document sets out our plan for the strong new partnership we want to build with the EU," Efe news quoted Davis as saying.

"Whatever the outcome of our negotiations, we will seek a more open, outward-looking, confident and fairer UK, which works for all," he added.

The 77-page policy document, titled "The United Kingdom's exit from and new partnership with the European Union," expounded the 12-point Brexit guide set out by Prime Minister Theresa May during her January 17 "Global Britain" speech.

Among other topics, the document reiterated the Government's plan to withdraw from the EU single market in exchange for creating new, individual trade deals, to take full control of immigration and to submit the draft Brexit deal to a parliamentary vote.

The white paper also confirmed May's intention to trigger Article 50 -- the official mechanism to begin the UK's withdrawal from the EU -- by the end of March.

A bill permitting the government of the UK to begin negotiations on withdrawal from the European Union passed the House of Commons on Wednesday by a margin of 498-114.