Theresa May: ‘UK must leave European single market’

“Brexit must mean control of the number of people coming from Europe, and that is what we will deliver. What I am proposing cannot mean membership of the single market,” Ms May said during a highly-anticipated speech at London’s Lancaster House.

She added that Britain would seek a trade deal giving “the greatest possible access” to the market on its departure.

The prime minister also announced that any divorce deal with the remaining EU members must be approved by votes in both chambers of Britain’s parliament.

Britain has two years to negotiate a breakup deal once Ms May triggers Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, officially declaring the country’s intention to quit, or face leaving with no agreement.

Ms May has promised to trigger Article 50 by the end of March, and said that she believed a final settlement and trade deal could be simultaneously negotiated within the time frame.

Foreign partners doubt such a timetable, with Austrian Foreign Minister Hans Joerg Schelling saying Brexit would take five years.

“It is not clear if it will be possible to negotiate the UK’s exit from the EU and the terms of a future co-operation at the same time,” he said.

UK’S PRIORITIES FOR BREXIT NEGOTIATIONS

— Maintaining the common travel area between the UK and Irish Republic

— Tariff-free trade with the EU

— A customs agreement with the EU

— Continued “practical” sharing of intelligence and policing information

— “Control” of immigration rights for EU citizens in the UK and UK citizens in the EU

— A “phased approach”

Seeking to calm fears of a sudden jolt to the economy on abruptly leaving the EU, Ms May said she would seek a “phased process of implementation”.

Her direction will be cheered by those who want to leave the EU, but dismay those who fear the impact on Britain’s economy.

EU countries accounted for 44 per cent of Britain’s total exports in goods and services in 2015, with the country recording a £68.6 billion ($110 billion) trade deficit with the bloc.

The British currency has endured a rocky ride since the vote last summer to leave the union, but sterling responded strongly to Ms May’s speech, wiping out losses earlier in the week.

Britain’s finance minister Philip Hammond adopted a tough line on Sunday, warning that Britain might undercut the EU economically to remain competitive if it faces EU tariffs.

Mr Hammond said he wanted Britain to still be a “recognisably European-style economy with European-style taxation systems, European-style regulation systems.” However, London would have to change course “if we are forced”, to “regain competitiveness”, he told Germany’s Welt am Sonntag newspaper on Sunday.

French Finance Minister Michel Sapin on Tuesday accused May’s government of making up its negotiating policy on the hoof.

“No-one was prepared,” he said. “You can see very well that they are improvising, with flip-flopping between accommodating positions ... and harder positions.”

TRUMP AND TRADE DEAL

Britain’s post-EU prospects were given a verbal boost on Sunday by US President-elect Donald Trump, who said he favoured a quick trade deal with the UK.

But a fast-track bilateral deal with Washington will be difficult in practical terms.

Under EU rules Britain cannot sign trade deals with third party states until it is formally outside the bloc, a position that does not change despite voting to leave.

A two-year negotiating period is foreseen in EU legislation for any country choosing to exit the 28-member bloc.

The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has said there should be an agreement in place ahead of the European Parliament elections in 2019.

But even if the prime minister’s plan outlined on Tuesday wins widespread support, legal challenges could still scupper her Brexit timetable.

Britain’s Supreme Court is due to rule later this month on whether May must seek parliamentary approval before triggering Article 50, which could delay the start of Brexit negotiations.

partnership” with Europe. Britons voted to leave the EU in a referendum in June.

Setting out her vision for Britain, Ms May said she wanted her country to emerge “stronger, fairer, more united and more outward-looking than before.”

REACTION TO BREXIT SPEECH

Opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn on Sky news:

“She has said ‘leave the single market’ but at the same time said she wants to have access to the single market. I’m not sure how that’s going to go down in Europe ... She seems to be wanting to have her cake and eat it.”

Finnish Finance Minister Petteri Orpo, on Twitter:

“Britain has laid out its plan for #brexit. Next, it is the job of #EU27 to find a common position. United we stand, divided we fall.”

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier:

“We welcome that the British prime minister is today outlining her government’s ideas for leaving and has finally created a little more clarity about the British plans. She has underlined that Great Britain is striving for a positive and constructive partnership, a friendship, with a strong EU. That is good.

“We too want the best, closest and most trusting relationship and wish for constructive negotiations with this goal. But our line is, and remains: the negotiations can begin only when Great Britain has given official notification of its desire to leave.”