Key events since the Brexit referendum

A timeline of milestones on the road to Britain's departure from the European Union.

Britain's scheduled departure from the EU is less than three months away. Here are some of the key milestones witnessed on the road to Brexit day.

June 23, 2016 - The UK votes for Brexit in the EU referendum by 51.9 per cent to 48.1 per cent, prompting then-prime minister David Cameron to resign and be replaced by Theresa May.

January 17, 2017 - May gives a speech setting out the government's 12-point "Plan for Britain" and her negotiating red lines, ruling out membership of the EU's single market and customs union.

March 29, 2017 - The PM triggers Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, which formally starts a two-year countdown to the UK exiting the EU.

June 8, 2017 - After calling a snap general election to increase her authority, May loses her parliamentary majority and has to make a deal with the DUP to stay in power.

December 13, 2017 - Rebel Tory MPs inflict a major defeat on the government, forcing them to guarantee a vote on the final Brexit deal.

December 15, 2017 - Two days later the first part of the negotiations is completed after a deal is reached on the "divorce bill", and the so-called Northern Irish "backstop" is first agreed upon.

March 2, 2018 - May gives her second big Brexit speech outlining her "five tests" for the UK's future economic partnership with the EU.

March 19, 2018 - A draft Withdrawal Agreement is published setting out the transition period, citizens' rights and plans for fishing.

July 6, 2018 - After the The European Union (Withdrawal) Bill becomes law at the end of June, May takes her Cabinet to Chequers to sign off a collective position for the future Brexit negotiations with the EU.

July 9, 2018 - Brexit Secretary David Davis resigns over the so-called "Chequers Plan" to be replaced by Dominic Raab, with Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson following him out of Cabinet several days later.

September 20, 2018 - At a meeting of European leaders in Salzburg, May was delivered a blow as they rejected her proposals out of hand.

November 25, 2018 - A 599-page draft Withdrawal Agreement is published after unanimous approval by the EU, but the terms of the backstop to prevent a hard border in Ireland spark anger among Brexiteers and the DUP.

December 10, 2018 - Mid-way through a five-day debate on the Brexit deal, as it became clear she would lose heavily, May pulls the vote and postpones it until the week of January 14, 2019.

December 12, 2018 - In response, enough discontented Tory MPs write letters of no confidence to reach the threshold for a vote in her leadership, which she wins by 200 to 117 the following day.

December 19, 2018 - The European Commission starts implementing its "no deal" Contingency Action Plan, covering 14 areas where UK withdrawal without a deal would create "major disruption for citizens and businesses" in the remaining 27 EU states.

January 9, 2019 - After returning from the Christmas break, MPs begin five days of debate on the PM's deal.

January 14, 2019 - European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker release a letter offering "clarifications" to the withdrawal agreement.

January 15, 2019 - MPs reject May's Brexit plans by 432 votes to 202. The 230-vote margin of defeat is the worst suffered by any UK government in modern political history, and prompts a motion of no-confidence tabled by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.


Share
4 min read

Published

Source: AAP


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world