On 29 March 2017, the UK Prime Minister (PM) triggered the now
famous Article 50 by writing to Donald Tusk, President of the
European Council, notifying him of the UK's intention to leave
the EU. This article considers the content of that letter.
Mr Tusk's response to the PM's letter will be considered
in a separate article shortly.
It should also be noted that since the PM delivered her letter
to Mr Tusk, she has unexpectedly called a UK general election for
June 8th. Meanwhile the parties have kicked off the Brexit
negotiation by some early shouting at each other across The
Channel.
What was in the PM's letter?
Having served the leave notice, the PM's letter went on to
reassure Mr Tusk that the UK's decision to leave was not a
rejection of the "values we share as fellow
Europeans", nor an attempt "to do harm to the
European Union"; on the contrary, the UK wants the EU to
"succeed and prosper". The EU Referendum was
"a vote to restore, as we see it, our
