One of the UK’s leading farmer representative bodies is calling for Article 50 – which set the original deadline for the country to leave the EU – to be revoked altogether.
The Farmers’ Union of Wales (FUW) says that the article should be revoked to better reflect the votes that took place in the UK parliament this week.
On Wednesday (March 13), politicians passed a resolution to avoid a no-deal Brexit, and the following day, voted to seek an extension on the Brexit deadline date – a date that was originally set when Article 50 was initially triggered in 2017.
Speaking yesterday (Thursday, March 14), Dr. Fenwick argued: “Now that the parliament has rejected leaving the EU without a deal, the relevant legislation must be amended to reflect this view and cater for all possible eventualities – including the need to revoke Article 50 in order to respect the view of parliament.”
He added that replacing the March 29 deadline with another “cliff-edge” date down the line would be “short-sighted and not reflect the dangers”.
“We need the act to be amended to restore us to a realistic and safe timetable,” Dr. Fenwick concluded.
Meanwhile, Glyn Roberts, FUW president, said earlier this week – before the vote – that revoking Article 50 was the “only option” to take back control over the process and ensure an orderly Brexit.
On Wednesday, the parliament agreed to avoid a no-deal Brexit, with 321 votes cast in favour of the resolution and 278 against.
The previous day, the withdrawal agreement, negotiated by the UK and EU, was defeated for a second time in as many months, with 391 votes against and just 242 in favour.
And on Thursday (March 14), the House of Commons agreed to seek an extension to the deadline date on a score of 413 votes in favour, 202 against; this leaves open the possibility that the withdrawal agreement will be resurrected in some form.