‘We WILL take back control!’ Leadsom says UK will reap benefits of Brexit after transition
BRITAIN will be able to "take back control" after the Brexit transition period and any pledges promised by the Leave campaign will be made apparent, Andrea Leadsom vowed amid uncertainty after the Brexit deal.
Leader of the Commons Andrea Leadsom praised Theresa May’s efforts to strike a deal after EU officials confirmed on Friday that there was enough progress made on key Brexit issues to move on to trade talks.
Ms Leadsom, who stood up for Tory leadership against Mrs May following the Brexit referendum, told the Today programme: “We can an continue to be good friends and neighbours with the EU at the same time as taking back control of all of those pledges that were made during the referendum campaign.”
EU officials confirmed on Friday that the 2-year transition period will not be treated as an implementation period as previously suggested by Theresa May.
Ms Leadsom insisted the rules of the single market must be maintained during the Brexit transition period. She said: “But that’s not the same as saying that we are not taking back control. We absolutely are.
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“We will be out of the European Union and as we get free of the implementation period we will be in a position to make our own rules and regulations and even during that transition period we will be looking at free trade agreements.”
Following news of a deal with the EU, Brexiteer Ann in the West Midlands told BBC 5 Live that Andrea Leadsom would have been better suited to take the role of Prime Minister.
Ann was “disheartened” by the Brexit deal. She said: “I think Andrea Leadsom should have been the Prime Minister and not Theresa May. I don’t think she’s any good. She was a Remainer and it should have been a Brexiteer that should have been the Prime Minister.”
Environment Secretary Michael Gove said that the deal can be rejected by the public if they vote for change at the next general election.
He said: “The British people will be in control. If the British people dislike the agreement that we have negotiated with the EU, the agreement will allow a future government to diverge.
"By the time of the next election, EU law and any new treaty with the EU will cease to have primacy or direct effect in UK law."
Ms Leadsom said Mr Gove's comments were a "statement of the obvious".
She said: "It is the case in a sovereign parliament that the voters can choose to take a country in a different direction."
