Zimpapers Logo

David Cameron

LONDON. — Outgoing British Prime Minister David Cameron has stressed that the government will not rush into negotiations to leave the European Union or be dictated as to its terms, telling parliament the decision was “for Britain, and Britain alone, to take”.

In a defiant statement to the Commons in the wake of Thursday’s referendum vote to quit the EU, Cameron warned of difficult times ahead — “We know this is going to be far from plain sailing,” he said — but argued that the UK economy was sufficiently robust to take any shocks.

He announced the establishment of a civil service advisory group, helmed by the cabinet minister Oliver Letwin, to look into the options for departure. But Cameron stressed that it would be up for his replacement as prime minister to decide on what happened.

“The British people have voted to leave the European Union.” Cameron began. “It was not the decision I wanted, nor the outcome that I believe is best for the country I love. But there can be no doubt about the result.”

Referring to turbulence on the share and currency markets, he added: “It is going to be difficult. We have already seen that there are going to be adjustments within our economy.” The Treasury and Bank of England had, however, made “robust contingency plans”, Cameron said, with a £250bn fund in place. The UK would not trigger article 50, the formal two-year notice to quit the EU, until a new government was in place and it was known what route was intended, Cameron said.

“Before we do that we need to determine the kind of relationship we want with the EU. That is rightly something for the next prime minister and their cabinet to decide,” he told MPs. “This is our sovereign decision, and it will be for Britain, and Britain alone to take.”

The advice from the new civil service Brexit advisory unit would be “the most complex and important task that the British civil service has undertaken in decades”, Cameron said.

He also condemned “despicable” graffiti aimed at EU nationals living in the UK and other actions against immigrants in the wake of the referendum result.

“Let’s remember, these people have come here and made a wonderful contribution to our country,” he said.

Meanwhile, Poland’s ambassador in London has expressed shock and concern about what he said were incidents of xenophobic abuse directed against the Polish community following the UK’s decision to leave the European Union.

Dozens of alleged racist incidents were reported to the police in parts of England over the weekend, including cases where Poles and other eastern Europeans were the victims of racial abuse. Simon Hoare, a Conservative, referred to a tweet sent to a black Londoner telling her to go home with the hashtag #wevotedleave.

He said the racist attacks and insults since the referendum suggest a genie has been let out of the bottle. Will the government make it clear this is unacceptable? And do the police have the resources they need? — The Guardian/Al Jazeera/BBC/HR