These 8 European prime ministers are calling for a second Brexit referendum
- Prime ministers from 8 European countries publicly back calls for the British public to have a vote on the terms of the final Brexit deal.
- The leaders say the British people should "have the final say on the Brexit deal."
- Dutch PM Mark Rutte says it would be "highly welcome" if Brexit were scrapped.
LONDON & BRUSSELS - Prime ministers from 8 European countries today publicly backed calls for the British public to have a vote on the terms of the final Brexit deal.
A joint statement was issued on Wednesday following a lunch between Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable - who has previously called for a second referendum - and the prime ministers in Brussels. Signatories of the statement are:
- Andrej Babiš, Prime Minister of the Czech Republic
- Xavier Bettel, Prime Minister of Luxembourg
- Miro Cerar, Prime Minister of Slovenia
- Charles Michel, Prime Minister of Belgium
- Jüri Ratas, Prime Minister of Estonia
- Mark Rutte, Prime Minister of the Netherlands
- Juha Sipilä, Prime Minister of Finland.
The statement read: "We regret Brexit, but acknowledge the choice made by British voters for the UK government to negotiate withdrawal.
"We further acknowledged and support the Liberal Democrats' call for the British people to have the final say on the Brexit deal.
"All parties need to seek a broad deal accommodating both the position of the UK government and the principles on which the European Union is built."
Cable added: "The message is clear: Brexit is not inevitable."
Dutch prime minister Rutte told Business Insider in Brussels that it would be "highly welcome" if the UK decided to cancel Brexit.
The UK expects to bring back a Brexit deal from an EU summit in October this year which lays out the exact terms of Britain's departure. It is scheduled to leave the EU in March 2019, meaning any vote would likely need to take place in the five-month window which lapses between the two dates.
Theresa May has repeatedly ruled out the prospect of a vote on the terms of the final Brexit deal. In August 2016, she told her Cabinet colleagues that she would resist "attempts to stay in the EU by the back door."
"We must continue to be very clear that Brexit means Brexit, that we're going to make a success of it," she said.
"That means there's no second referendum, no attempts to sort of stay in the EU by the back door, that we're actually going to deliver on this."