British Lord who invented Article 50 never imagined a Brexit

Who should we blame? Brexit is the surprise that fate has prepared for us, oh oh

With 11 weeks to go before the end of the transition period, the government is still saying 'let's wait and see what agreement we get' - this is creating even more confusion

It is thanks to Article 50 of the Treaty of Lisbon that a member state can ask to leave the European Union. Its author, British Lord John Kerr, former UK Ambassador to the EU, says it created him with the rise of dictators in mind and, irony of ironies, he never imagined that his country would become the first to make use of this mechanism.  

In the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, a document produced by that Convention, it was Article I-60, which in five points spoke of voluntary withdrawal from the Union. This treaty was put to a referendum in France and the Netherlands and failed in both countries. On 29 May 2005, 55% of French people voted against the treaty, 45% voted in favour. A few days later, on 1 June, 62% of Dutch people also rejected the new text and 38% voted in favour of it.

On 12 June 2008, 53% of Irish voted against and 47% voted in favour of the Lisbon Treaty. After much pressure, tension and new negotiations, the referendum was repeated on 2 October 2009 and this time the treaty was approved with 67% of votes in favour and 33% against.

In January 2013, then British Prime Minister David Cameron said he was in favour of an internal referendum at some point in the future to create a new agreement for the United Kingdom in the European Union (EU). This triggered a series of negotiations between the two bodies on the way out of the first of the second, popularly known as Brexit.

Prime Minister Theresa May had declared herself opposed to a consultation on the terms of departure, but put the possibility on the agenda because, according to her, she had listened "carefully to those who have been advocating a second referendum".In 2016, the British decided to end 43 years of integration with the EU, in a referendum with 52% for separation and 48% against.