SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
The start of the 2016 Conservative Party Conference (Birmingham 2-5 October), has seen UK Prime Minister Theresa May declare that her party will look to trigger Article 50 by the ‘end of March 2017’.
Once Article 50 is invoked the UK will begin its two-year process of leaving the European Union. Speaking to Conservative Party delegates, May stated that the Tory government wanted no more ‘unnecessary delays’, in kick-starting negotiations with its EU counterparts.
Updating its ‘Official Brexit Year’ market, bookmaker William Hill has slashed the odds on 2019 being the ‘Year of Brexit’ from even-money (50% chance) to 1/6 (86% chance) following May’s conference speech.
However, the FTSE bookmaker acknowledges that the precise length of time for the negotiations will be an ‘unknown factor’ for stakeholders involved in arbitrating the UK’s EU exit.
As the UK becomes the first ‘full member’ state to seek to break away from the European Union, May and her advisers will have to sooth the concerns of multiple stakeholders (industry, law, trading bodies, security, etc..) regarding the UK’s Brexit plans.
Facing turbulent and uncertain times, William Hill has kept its price on Brexit not happening before January 1 2020 at 13/2.
William Hill Political Spokesperson Graham Sharpe commented on the market ‘
“2019 has to be odds-on favourite because of the well flagged up ‘It’ll take two years from triggering the departure’ line, but this is genuinely unknown territory and it could well take considerably longer or, should the EU be keen to see the back of the UK, just possibly somewhat shorter!”
