UK’s Prime Minister Theresa May steps down as Conservative leader on Friday and the first round of voting among the party’s lawmakers to elect her successor will take place next week.
Several of the 11 candidates have said they will seek changes to her deal, despite the EU saying it will not reopen negotiations.
“A CLEAN MANAGED BREXIT”
The European Research Group (ERG), whose opposition to May’s deal helped defeat it three times in parliament, said Britain should not propose revising the agreement. “The Withdrawal Agreement and the Political Declaration have failed absolutely. They are not coming back. The next leader of the Conservative Party needs to know that and act on that basis,” ERG Deputy Chairman Steve Baker said.
In a paper titled “A clean managed Brexit” published on Wednesday, the group said the delay to Britain’s departure had done severe damage to public trust and posed “an existential threat” to the Conservative Party. “It must therefore be the unshakable policy of the government to leave the EU by 31 October 2019,” it said.
“Commencement of negotiation of the EU-UK FTA should be sought as soon as possible after the appointment of a new British Prime Minister, well before the UK departs the EU on 31 October,” the paper added.
The group added that the government should not have to pay the 39 billion pound divorce bill if Britain leaves without a deal and could instead use much of that many to mitigate the impact of leaving without an agreement.