The British leader has said she will not trigger Article 50 of the EU’s Lisbon treaty to start the exit procedure until next year so she has time to come up with a negotiating stance.
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May underscored her position before chairing a Cabinet meeting at her country retreat, Chequers.
The UK will formally begin the process of leaving the European Union when it invokes Article 50, and it is still uncertain when exactly this will take place. Scottish and Northern Irish voters both backed staying in the bloc. “This must mean controls on the numbers of people who come to Britain from Europe but also a positive outcome for those who wish to trade goods and services”.
On Tuesday, French President Francois Hollande seemed to back up that point, underlining that Britain could not opt in to certain parts of the single market without upholding the EU’s four freedoms, including freedom of movement.
“May and her team have emphasised that Britain will still be open for business and that we are more outward-looking than ever before”.
The Chequers meeting was the cabinet’s first since the summer vacation.
Britain’s former prime minister David Cameron. Statements afterward gave no details of the results of their homework.
“While this was always the plan – to make product for Europe in Europe (alongside our Croatian factory) – the reality of the Brexit vote has meant we have done it with a bullet”, said the company in a statement.
How that happens is the more hard part.
May faces the thorny task of devising a strategy for pulling the United Kingdom out of the 28-nation bloc while minimizing the damage to the economy, protecting key industries such as finance and negotiating new trade deals with both the European Union and countries further afield, including the U.S., India and China.
“We can say at the moment it’s not probable, today”.
However, May is delaying triggering Article 50, and critics such as Barclays analysts say this will make a United Kingdom recession worse. “I hope the UK will do the same and our two countries will join hands to write a new chapter for China-UK relations”.
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Ministers heard an update of the economic outlook from Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond, who has hinted at a tax and spending boost for the economy later this year. A spokeswoman for May said her ministers had reiterated the government’s commitment to fiscal discipline and living within its means.
