Brexit triggered: I won't be popping Champagne corks just yet, says Shropshire MEP Bill Etheridge
One of Shropshire's Ukip MEP's responded to the triggering of Article 50 by declaring: "I'm not popping the Champagne corks just yet."
Bill Etheridge said: "Article 50 is little to celebrate. said Mr Etheridge.It is just the beginning of a process. When we have finally got back control of our fishing waters, the ability to make our own laws, control our borders, and stop sending money to Brussels – that is when I'll be popping the champagne corks."
The West Midlands MEP said now that Britain was leaving the EU the purpose of Ukip was more important than ever.
He said: "We are now into the meat, or the point, of the party. People did not join Ukip out of a visceral hatred for the EU.
"They want real and radical change to this country and the only way we can achieve that is by leaving the EU. I want to see a party that is campaigning for more freedoms – pushing back the state, strengthening our liberties and giving more control to people and letting them keep more of their money."
Meanwhile, former Ukip leader Nigel Farage watched Article 50 be triggered from a Westminster pub. He said: "The impossible dream came true. I'm delighted." As Britain moved into the two-year exit period, the first signs of the difficulties ahead emerged.
A draft resolution of the European Parliament was released that states a new trade deal between the UK and the remaining European Union can only be struck after Britain has left the EU. The document says any transitional agreement to tide over the period before a trade deal is put in place should last no more than three years after the expected date of Brexit in 2019.
The resolution, expected to be debated and adopted by the European Parliament in Strasbourg on April 5, sets out the tough line which leading MEPs want the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier to take in negotiations triggered by the invocation of Article 50.
Describing Brexit as an "unprecedented and regrettable event", the EU calls for the process to be arranged "in an orderly fashion so as not to negatively affect the European Union, its citizens and the process of European integration".
