Ilford South MP signs letter to prime minister about the ‘dangers’ of her approach to Brexit
Prime Minister Theresa May said she is committed to ensuring the UK leaves the EU's Single Market. Picture: Jonathan Brady/PA Images. - Credit: PA Wire/PA Images
Ilford South MP Mike Gapes has signed a letter to prime minister Theresa May voicing strong concerns about the dangers of her approach to Brexit.
Mike Gapes, Ilford South MP - Credit: Archant
He is one of 43 MPs to put his name to the correspondence and warned that triggering Article 50 will put the country “on an escalator that parliament can’t stop”.
“The referendum question didn’t say we’d leave the Customs Union or the Single Market,” he said.
“Nobody voted to make our country poorer.
“We will either be faced with a position that is very bad for our economy and interests or even worse in two years be left with no deal at all.”
The Ilford South MP said there was no plan in place.
“I will not vote to trigger Article 50,” he added.
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“If the Commons gets the chance to vote on the approach to leaving the EU, I will vote for amendments to stay in the Single Market and the Customs Union and to protect employment and environmental standards.”
In a speech on Brexit, prime minister, Theresa May addressed the nation to explain why Britain could not stay a member of the single market.
“European leaders have said many times that membership means accepting the four freedoms of goods, capital, services and people. And being out of the EU but a member of the Single Market would mean complying with the EU’s rules and regulations that implement those freedoms, without having a vote on what those rules and regulations are,” she said.
“It would mean accepting a role for the European Court of Justice that would see it still having direct legal authority in our country.
“It would to all intents and purposes mean not leaving the EU at all. And that is why both sides in the referendum campaign made it clear that a vote to leave the EU would be a vote to leave the Single Market.”
