Leave campaign outlines steps to be taken if referendum passed

The Conservative revolt over George Osborne’s “emergency budget” proposal and the maritime battle between Nigel Farage and Bob Geldof dominated the referendum news on Wednesday, with the latter providing the liveliest campaign images yet.

Almost unnoticed, Vote Leave published a legislative roadmap for the process of leaving the EU if Britain backs Brexit next Thursday.

Until now, the Leave campaign has been vague about the steps that would be taken in the aftermath of the referendum and the timetable for implementing Brexit.

The legislative roadmap leaves many questions still unanswered, notably about Britain’s trade relationship with the EU, but it commits Boris Johnson, Michael Gove and other Leave leaders to a number of important steps.

Negotiation

Under EU treaties, a member state wishing to leave the EU can invoke article 50, setting in motion a negotiation lasting up to two years, which can only be extended with the approval of all other member-states.

Vote Leave says it makes no sense to trigger the article immediately after the referendum and Britain should first enter “preliminary discussions” with EU partners, inviting figures from other parties, business, the law and civil society to join the negotiating team.

“There will be informal negotiations, then formal negotiations, and legal changes, both to the EU treaties and to UK law. The precise details and the exact timing of the final settlement will only be clear when the government negotiating team engages and develops a framework,” it says.

Mutual recognition

Vote Leave says Britain should be out of the EU by the end of the current parliament in 2020, having negotiated a new trade deal in record time. It says a deal could be agreed quickly if the two sides agree to maintain zero tariffs and as Britain has the same regulatory standards as the rest of the EU, there would be no need for long negotiations on mutual recognition.

The overall settlement with the EU would be based on free trade and friendly intergovernmental co-operation.

“The supremacy of EU law and the European Court’s jurisdiction will be ended. The UK will take back powers over its national security and tax system. Budget contributions to the EU will end. The EU’s control over the UK’s borders and the admission of persons into the UK will end. The UK will leave the EU’s ‘common commercial policy’,” Vote Leave says.

The post-Brexit blueprint involves a number of major pieces of legislation going through parliament but with the majority of MPs opposed to leaving the EU, there is no guarantee they would be passed.