LONDON, March 29 - Prime Minister Theresa May today said there could be �no turning back� as the countdown to Britain�s exit from the EU began after the British envoy to the economic bloc delivered her letter to the European Council in Brussels, announcing the UK�s intention to end its 44-year association.
In her statement to the House of Commons, May said that Sir Tim Barrow had delivered her letter to Donald Tusk, President of the European Council, in Brussels.
�Today the government acts on the democratic will of the British people and it acts too on the clear and convincing position of this House,� she said.
�The Article 50 process is now under way and in accordance with the wishes of the British People the United Kingdom is leaving the European Union. This is a historic moment from which there can be no turning back,� she said in an address that was frequently interrupted by opposition MPs.
�Now is the time for us to come together, to be united,� she said, a day after Scotland�s parliament voted in favour of an independence referendum.
The formal notification to the other 27 EU members of Britain�s intention to invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty was signed by May at her 10 Downing Street office last night.
Barrow began his meeting with Tusk this morning during which he formally handed over the six-page letter to set the clock for a two-year negotiation process for Britain�s relationship with the EU as a non-member. � PTI
