News / EU / Foreign Policy

UK will not hold a second EU referendum: Theresa May spokesman

Thursday, 11 January 2018 8:57 PM [ Last Update: Friday, 12 January 2018 12:01 AM ]

UK Prime Minister Theresa May

UK Prime Minister Theresa May will not hold a second referendum on Britain’s exit from the European Union, amid growing calls for a new vote on Brexit.

"We will not be having a second referendum," May's spokesman said Thursday.

Earlier, leading Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage suggested that Britain should hold a second referendum on EU membership which he claims would silence those who are against leaving the bloc.

"Maybe, just maybe, we should have a second referendum on EU membership. It would kill off the issue for a generation once and for all," Farage said on Twitter.

Farage, the former UK Independence Party (UKIP) leader and current Member of the European Parliament (MEP), said that pro-Europeans such as former UK prime minister Tony Blair "will never ever give up."

The Liberal Democrats and other pro-EU politicians have called for a second EU referendum, arguing that Britons did not know the full repercussions of leaving the EU when they voted.

PressTV-Half of Britons want second Brexit referendum: Poll

Half of British voters want a second referendum on the outcome of the Brexit talks with the EU, a new poll shows.

Britons remain divided over leaving the EU, with some, including Blair saying the decision should be overturned. A number of lawmakers are arguing for a second public vote on the terms of the Brexit deal.

Brexit could cost the UK almost 500,000 jobs and nearly 50 billion pounds ($68 billion) in investment by 2030, according to a study commissioned by the mayor of London.

In a worst-case scenario, Britain would lose 482,000 jobs and 46.7 billion pounds ($62.9 billion) in investments in the next 12 years, according to research published Thursday by Cambridge Econometrics.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who campaigned against Brexit, said it was “astonishing” that May’s government had failed to do any analyses.

The EU has slashed UK’s economic growth forecast for 2018 and said the slowdown would continue through 2019 as uncertainties over Brexit weigh on the economy.

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