UK PM moves to reassure nation

Britain has a strong economy and is well placed to face future challenges as it leaves the EU, David Cameron said.

British Prime Minister David Cameron had campaigned for Britain to stay in the EU, but said the people’s decision should be respected. Picture: AFP Photo/PRU.

British Prime Minister David Cameron on Monday addressed the country’s historic decision to cut ties with the European Union, saying in his first address to Parliament since announcing his intention to resign that the government would begin implementing the decision to leave the bloc.

Mr Cameron said the Article 50 of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty, which officially sets in motion the UK’s exit from the bloc, wouldn’t be triggered “at this stage.” He said there would be adjustments with the economy, but that the UK was ready to confront the future from a position of strength.

“We have one of the strongest, major advanced economies in the world,” Mr Cameron said. “We are well placed to face the challenges ahead.”

Among initial steps, Mr Cameron said he established a unit of civil servants that would focus on preparing recommendations for a British exit from the bloc.

Mr Cameron, who had spearheaded the campaign for Britain to remain in the EU, had said in the wake of the result that he continued to believe the UK was better off in the bloc but that the decision of the British people needed to be respected.

“The decision must be accepted and the process of implementing the decision in the best possible way must now begin,” Mr Cameron said.

His address comes ahead of a planned meeting in Brussels between Mr Cameron and the 27 other EU leaders on Tuesday, where European leaders are expected to signal unity in the wake of the British vote.

Mr Cameron’s resignation has set in motion a contest for the new leader of his centre-right Conservative Party. The Party intends to choose a new prime minister by Sept. 2, according to Graham Brady, chairman of the so-called 1922 committee, a powerful committee of Conservative Party backbenchers that sets the timeline for the leadership contest. He said the party would accept nominations from Wednesday evening until Thursday at noon, if the proposed timeline is ratified by the Conservative Party board on Tuesday.

Dow Jones