What the papers say: Brexit 'lift off'

The period of ‘phoney Brexit’ is over, says the Daily Telegraph in its editorial this morning. After MPs overwhelming backed the Government on the triggering of Article 50 in last night’s historic vote, one thing is now clear: ‘there is no way back’. It’s obvious, the Telegraph says, that whatever happens next, the process is not going to be easy. Sir Ivan Rogers told a Commons committee yesterday that the Brexit negotiations will be the biggest undertaken since the Second World War – and possibly the biggest ever; he’s right, says the Telegraph. But as well as being correct on the scale of the task ahead, the former UK ambassador to the EU was wrong to offer up flashes of a ‘jaundiced prognosis’, in saying that talks will inevitably descend into ‘name-calling’. Instead, it would be good if ‘Sir Ivan and people like him could use their extensive contacts to ensure the best possible outcome for the country, rather than lamenting the baleful ramifications of a referendum that is not going to be rerun,’ the paper concludes.