Former U.K. Independence Party leader Nigel Farage said the British government will likely trigger formal talks to leave the European Union in January.
Speaking to Bloomberg Television in Strasbourg on Wednesday, Farage identified the first month of 2017 as the likely date for Prime Minister Theresa May to activate Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, which starts two years of negotiations.
“I don’t mind the government spending a few months, getting its ducks in a row, getting ready,” Farage said. “I think what you’ll see, I hope what you’ll see is Article 50 triggered, probably in January.”
While May has said she won’t initiate talks before 2017 she has declined to give more clarity. Farage and other pro-Brexit campaigners have warned her not to delay delivering on the result of the June referendum.
“We have voted to leave this political union,” Farage said.
