The UK government has engaged in discussions on the second Brexit referendum with various groups across the parliament, however, the timeline for the possible second vote on Britain's withdrawal from the EU, presented by the cabinet, is "completely wrong", the leader of the UK opposition Liberal Democrats party, Vince Cable said.
"One of the useful outcomes from the first round of the discussions with the government was around the practicalities of a People’s Vote. These discussions brought to the surface the complete misunderstanding in government circles about the time line to bring it about," Liberal Democrats leader Cable said as quoted by The Guardian newspaper.
Ex-Attorney General Dominic Grieve, who is a member of the Conservative Party, was also among the politicians who expressed their disagreement with the cabinet’s second referendum time line.
"If parliament wishes to have a referendum and the government is prepared to facilitate it, it could be carried out swiftly and within a limited time extension of Article 50 … It is extraordinary for the Government to make these claims when their Brexit deal — which has been comprehensively rejected by Parliament — offers no certainty over our future relationship with Europe and would simply result in years of back-and-forth, arguments and negotiations … It is neither helpful nor right to have misleading information of this kind put out", Grieve said as quoted by the Express.
Prime Minister Theresa May began talks with parliamentarians on the next step to resolve the Brexit impasse after lawmakers rejected her withdrawal deal with the European Union, opening the way for the no-deal Brexit.
On Wednesday, May survived no confidence vote in the government and called on lawmakers to find a way forward for Brexit. The Labour Party, led by opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn, however, refused to participate in discussions, drawing May’s criticism.
As the Brexit date under Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, which will be 29 March, is looming, May has pledged to present her proposals for the next steps to deal with the Brexit deadlock to parliamentarians on Monday. The proposals then need to be discussed and amended by lawmakers.
The media reported Thursday, citing a UK Cabinet Office paper, that the government believed it would take over a year to organize the second Brexit referendum.
However, the leader of the UK opposition Liberal Democrats party rejected these claims.