Two women in UK PM-race differ on Brexit urgency

London: The two leading contenders in the race for the next British prime minister, Theresa may and Andrea Leadsom, differed on Sunday on how urgent it was to trigger article 50, the formal step to begin Britain’s negotiations with the European Union on the terms of its exit from the bloc.

Home Secretary Theresa May, the front-runner who campaigned for a “Remain” vote in the June 23 referendum, said Britain needed to be clear about its negotiating stance and she would not be rushed into triggering the article this year. She vowed to push for an EU trade deal that limited immigration. “This is not about the UK retreating, this is about the UK going centre stage in the world,” she said.

Meanwhile, Junior energy minister Andrea Leadsom, who has emerged as May’s strongest rival from the “Leave” camp, struck a more urgent tone, saying Britain needed to “get a grip and make progress”. Britons voted by 52 to 48 per cent to leave the bloc it had joined in 1973 and Prime Minister David Cameron said he would resign over his failure to keep the country in.

According to reports, May has an early lead, gaining the support of more than 100 lawmakers, four times as many as any other candidate. But her critics, including rivals Leadsom and Justice Secretary Michael Gove, said the next leader needed to come from the winning “Leave” side of the EU debate.

Keep calm: Queen

The Queen has urged the British leaders to calm down in the wake of post-Brexit chaos and told MSPs they should feel “hope and optimism” about the next five years. The monarch in her address at the opening of the fifth session of the Scottish Parliament told UK’s political class to contemplate before deciding their next move.