May "will not tolerate" efforts from MPs to block Brexit

By Lauren Codling

PRIME MINISTER Theresa May has warned MPs that she “will not tolerate” efforts to halt Brexit through parliamentary manoeuvres.

Writing in a national newspaper today (10), May asserted that any mechanisms used to try and “block the democratic wishes of the British people” would not stand.

"The EU Withdrawal Bill is the single most significant piece of legislation in this parliament because it is fundamental to delivering a smooth and orderly Brexit," May wrote.

"Where MPs think they can improve the Bill, this government will listen to them.

"But we will not tolerate attempts from any quarter to use the process of amendments to this bill as a mechanism to try to block the democratic wishes of the British people by attempting to slow down or stop our departure from the European Union," she went on.

Meanwhile, Lord Kerr, the architect behind Article 50, claimed the process of Brexit could still be reserved, stating “we can still change our minds at any stage”.

“The country still has a free choice about whether to proceed,” Lord Kerr said. “As new facts emerge, people are entitled to take a different view…and there's nothing in Article 50 to stop them."

The peer, a former ambassador to the European Union, was speaking ahead of a speech to an Open Britain event on Friday (10).

May, however, dismissed the claims, writing "it will be there in black and white on the front page of this historic piece of legislation: The United Kingdom will be leaving the EU on March 29, 2019 at 11pm GMT."

Brexit talks have resumed in Brussels after a series of scandals in Westminster in recent weeks, including the flurry of sexual harassment claims directed at male politicians and the resignation of Priti Patel, the secretary of state for international development, after it was unearthed she attended undisclosed meetings in Israel.

In the June 2016 referendum, 51.9 per cent of voters backed Brexit.

Feature image: Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP/Getty Images