Conservative Brexiteers attacked Britain's Royal Mail postal service on Monday following reports in the press that it would not release a stamp commemorating the country's departure from the European Union, scheduled for March 2019.
Pro-Brexit Conservative ministers were quick to accuse the postal service of hypocrisy, saying that it had released a series of stamps celebrating Britain's accession to the European Community back in 1973.
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Speaking to the British press, David Jones, a former minister in Britain's Exiting the EU Department and a Conservative for Clwyd West, described the Royal Mail's decision as "outrageous," and said that he would write to the UK Business Secretary Sajid Javid, who has oversight over the postal service, to complain.
"The Royal Mail has an absolute obligation to recognize a new chapter in the history of this country," Jones said. "It was a sufficiently important issue to attract the votes of 17.2 million people— and as a matter of simple respect, the Royal Mail should be ensuring the occasion is properly marked."
Conservative MP for Wellingborough and Brexit supporter, Peter Bone, said that the Royal Mail was "part of the establishment" displaying a "bias against Brexit."
Royal Mail to explain itself
Meanwhile, Ian Liddell-Grainger, a Tory member of the Business, Enterprise and Industrial Strategy committee, which has oversight of the Royal Mail, told Britain's Daily Express newspaper that he would ensure postal service's managers are questioned about their decision when they appear before the committee next year.
"The Royal Mail should print stamps. It is historic — whether they like it or not," said Liddell-Grainger. "The British people voted very clearly to leave the European Union in just over two years' time. Therefore the Royal Mail should mark that. It would be very strange if Royal Mail that does do very good first day covers does not do this. It is of historical importance to the United Kingdom."
The Royal Mail has released thousands of stamps celebrating British culture, including history, music and literature.
The Royal Mail has released thousands of commemorative stamps in recent memory to mark national events and UK pop culture — from the Olympics and the Royal Wedding, to Harry Potter and the Beatles.
The Royal Mail also released a small series of stamps in 1973 to mark the UK joining the European Economic Community, the precursor to the European Union.
Read more: Opinion: Brexit – that was the easy part
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Brexit timeline: Charting Britain's turbulent exodus from Europe
June 2016: 'The will of the British people'
After a shrill referendum campaign, nearly 52 percent of British voters opted to leave the EU on June 24. Polls had shown a close race before the vote with a slight lead for those favoring remaining in the EU. Conservative British Prime Minister David Cameron, who had campaigned for Britain to stay, acknowledged the 'will of the British people' and resigned the following morning.
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Brexit timeline: Charting Britain's turbulent exodus from Europe
July 2016: 'Brexit means Brexit'
Former Home Secretary Theresa May replaced David Cameron as prime minister on July 11 and promised the country that "Brexit means Brexit." May had quietly supported the remain campaign before the referendum. She did not initially say when her government would trigger Article 50 of the EU treaty to start the two-year talks leading to Britain's formal exit.
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Brexit timeline: Charting Britain's turbulent exodus from Europe
March 2017: 'We already miss you'
May eventually signed a diplomatic letter over six months later on March 29, 2017 to trigger Article 50. Hours later, Britain's ambassador to the EU, Tim Barrow, handed the note to European Council President Donald Tusk. Britain's exit was officially set for March 29, 2019. Tusk ended his brief statement on the decision with: "We already miss you. Thank you and goodbye."
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Brexit timeline: Charting Britain's turbulent exodus from Europe
June 2017: And they're off!
British Brexit Secretary David Davis and the EU's chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, kicked off talks in Brussels on June 19. The first round ended with Britain reluctantly agreeing to follow the EU's timeline for the rest of the negotiations. The timeline split talks into two phases. The first settles the terms of Britain's exit and the second the terms of the EU-UK relationship post-Brexit.
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Brexit timeline: Charting Britain's turbulent exodus from Europe
July-October 2017: Money, rights, and Ireland
The second round of talks in mid-July began with an unflattering photo of a seemingly unprepared British team. It and subsequent rounds ended with little progress on three phase one issues: How much Britain still needed to pay into the EU budget after it leaves, the post-Brexit rights of EU and British citizens, and whether Britain could keep an open border between Ireland and Northern Ireland.
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Brexit timeline: Charting Britain's turbulent exodus from Europe
November 2017: May pays out?
Progress appeared to have been made after round six in early November with Britain reportedly agreeing to pay up to £50 billion (€57 billion/$68 billion) for the "divorce bill." May had earlier said she was only willing to pay €20 billion, while the EU had calculated some €60 billion euros. Reports of Britain's concession sparked outrage among pro-Brexit politicians and media outlets.
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Brexit timeline: Charting Britain's turbulent exodus from Europe
December 2017: Go-ahead for phase two
Leaders of the remaining 27 EU members formally agreed that "sufficient progress" had been made to move on to phase 2 issues: the post-Brexit transition period and the future UK-EU trading relationship. While May expressed her delight at the decision, European Council President Tusk ominously warned that the second stage of talks would be "dramatically difficult."
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Brexit timeline: Charting Britain's turbulent exodus from Europe
July 2018: Boris and David resign
British ministers appeared to back a Brexit plan at May's Chequers residence on July 6. The proposal would have kept Britain in a "combined customs territory" with the EU and signed up to a "common rulebook" on all goods. That went too far for British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson and Brexit Secretary Davis. They resigned a few days later. May replaced them with Jeremy Hunt and Dominic Raab.
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Brexit timeline: Charting Britain's turbulent exodus from Europe
September 2018: No cherries for Britain
The Chequers proposal did not go down well either with EU leaders, who told her at a summit in Salzburg in late September that it was unacceptable. EU Council President Tusk trolled May on Instagram, where he captioned a picture of himself and May looking at cakes with the line: "A piece of cake perhaps? Sorry, no cherries." The gag echoed previous EU accusations of British cherry-picking.
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Brexit timeline: Charting Britain's turbulent exodus from Europe
November 2018: Breakthrough in Brussels
EU leaders endorsed a 585-page draft divorce deal and political declaration on post-Brexit ties in late November. The draft was widely condemned by pro- and anti-Brexit lawmakers in the British Parliament only weeks earlier. Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab resigned along with several other ministers, and dozens of Conservative Party members tried to trigger a no-confidence vote in May.
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Brexit timeline: Charting Britain's turbulent exodus from Europe
December 2018: May survives rebellion
In the face of unrelenting opposition, May postponed a parliamentary vote on the deal on December 10. The next day, she met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel to seek reassurances that would, she hoped, be enough to convince skeptical lawmakers to back the deal. But while she was away, hard-line Conservative lawmakers triggered a no-confidence vote. May won the vote a day later.
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Brexit timeline: Charting Britain's turbulent exodus from Europe
January 2019: Agreement voted down
UK parliament 432 to 202 against May's Brexit deal in a parliamentary vote on January 16. In response to the result, European Council President Donald Tusk suggested the only solution was for the UK to stay in the EU. Meanwhile, Britain's Labour Party called for a vote of no confidence in May, her second leadership challenge in as many months.
Author: Alexander Pearson
