Promises on NHS spending will not be met, EU immigration may not be controlled and leaving the EU could take several years are among a series of claims made by leading Brexit campaigners in the hours following the nation’s shock decision to leave the EU.
“A lot of things were said in advance of this referendum that we might want to think about again,” said the Conservative former Defence Minister Liam Fox.
He has suggested Article 50, the provision by which a country leaves the European Union, should not be triggered straight away. From the moment that occurs, the UK would have two years to leave the EU. “I think it doesn’t make any sense to trigger Article 50 without having a period of reflection first, for the cabinet to determine exactly what it is we’re going to be seeking and in what timescale.”
The Conservative MEP Daniel Hannan told Newsnight that EU immigration would continue if the UK wanted to retain membership of the single market, a course of action he himself advocates. “Frankly, if people watching think they have voted and there is now going to be zero immigration from the EU, they are going to be disappointed,” he said. “All we are asking for is some control over roughly who comes in and roughly in what numbers.”
Last Friday morning, Nigel Farage also told Good Morning Britain that the claim written on the side of the Vote Leave Battle Bus – that leaving the EU would release £350m a week that could be spent on the NHS – was "a mistake". "It wasn’t one of my adverts," he said.
