Theresa May has again refused to say she would back Brexit if the referendum was held today – as she declared that she feel ‘European’.
The Prime Minister backed Remain when Britain voted to leave the EU in June 2016 but has built her premiership around taking the country out of the Brussels club.
But in an interview she again refused to say if she would switch sides and now back Leave, saying she would ‘do what I did last time’ and look at the issues.
It comes nearly a year after she triggered Article 50 to start the two-year countdown to Brexit and in the midst of middle of negotiations with the bloc.
Late last year she secured the agreement of Brussels to move on to the second phase of talks having made ‘sufficient progress’ on the Irish border, Brexit divorce bill ad citizens rights.
Other ministers, including Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Treasury Minister Liz Truss have said they would change their vote and back Brexit if the referendum was held today.
The Prime Minister (pictured at the summit wiht Emmanuel Macron in Sandhurst yesterday) backed Remain when Britain voted to leave the EU in June 2016 but has built her premiership around taking the country out of the Brussels club
Both ministers said the Treasury’s Project Fear campaign, which warned Britain’s economy would immediately tank if we voted Leave, has now been proved wrong.
In an interview on French television, she said: ‘If a vote was to come up, I would do what I did last time round which was sit down and look carefully at the issues.
‘But there isn’t going to be another vote, so this is not an issue. What is going to happen is the UK is going to leave the European Union.’
She also ruled out holding a second referendum on leaving the EU – insisting the outcome of the historic vote will stand.
She told France 2: ‘There will be no second referendum on Brexit. We took the decision as a parliament that the British people should have their choice.’
The Prime Minister’s refusal to do the same and say she would back Leave could raise questions about how committed she is to delivering Brexit, and how much she really thinks the UK can flourish outside the bloc.
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt (pictured outside No10 on Tuesday) and Treasury Minister Liz Truss (pictured outside No10 on Tuesday) have said they would change their vote and back Brexit if the referendum was held today.
It is not the first time she refused to say she would change her vote, she made similar comments in last October.
In the same interview with the French television channel, Mrs May also said she feels European.
Asked by the interviewer ‘do you feel European’, the PM replied: ‘Yes. The United Kingdom is part of Europe and of course we will remain part of Europe.
‘We have decided to leave the European Union, that’s a decision that the British people took and we will be leaving the European Union but we are not leaving Europe.’
Earlier this week Chris Wilkins, Mrs May’s former longterm speechwriter, said Brexit was ‘not something that animates her or she would have chosen to be her legacy’.
He told Wales Online: ‘She’s very determined and clear-sighted in that way but I think it’s fair to say [from] her time in office people might not necessarily recognise that.
‘It’s in many ways her misfortune to have Brexit looming large over everything because, much as she’s committed to delivering it, it’s not something that animates her or she would have chosen to be her legacy.’
Commenting on Mrs May’s remarks, Nigel Farage said: ‘I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. We need a Prime Minister who believes in Brexit.’