News
Aimee Meade
Aug 15, 2016
When prime minister Theresa May appointed her ministerial cabinet, conspiracists argued that she was setting up the pro-Brexit MPs to fail.
So is the the latest news that Brexit may not happen until 2019 the next step in her alleged cunning plan?
The Sunday Times reported last week that the ministers responsible for the UK's exit from the EU, David Davis and Liam Fox, are a long way off being ready to do so, since their departments have not recruited anywhere near the staff with the expertise to negotiate the terms.
Davis, Brexit minister, is said to have less than half of the 250 European experts needed, and Fox, International Trade Secretary, less than 100 of the 1,000 staff he needs, Politico reports.
The PM, who is currently sunning herself in the Swiss Alps, has already said that she would not trigger Article 50 - the legislation which starts the approximately two-year Brexit proceedings - until January 2017. It is believed that it now be set in motion bythe end of 2019, ahead of European Parliament elections.
This delay may resurface disagreements within the Conservative party, and tensions have already risen between Fox and Boris Johnson. Fox wrote to May to request that his department looks after economic diplomacy, while Johnson, as foreign secretary, oversees diplomacy, security and intelligence services. Staff have since left Johnson's office to work with Fox.
It is unknown when or how Fox and Davis will be getting the staff and expertise they need for the complex negotiations.
Either way, it looks like May's decision to make the Brexiteers finish what they started is going to plan.
Top 100
The Conversation (0)