He said: “What the Prime Minister said in China is very clear: she wants a results based immigration system, one that actually delivers an outcome that the British people vote for”.
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“What the British people voted for on the 23rd of June was to bring some control into the movement of people from the European Union to the United Kingdom”, she told reporters on Monday after a two-day summit of leaders from G20 nations in China.
On the topic of freedom of movement, May on Monday said she’s considering using quotas to curb immigration, tailored to the needs of the United Kingdom economy, rather than a points-based system.
May recalled how staff at Heathrow airport had told her that migrants were able to abuse student visa rules when they applied to come to Britain.
‘It is not necessarily that the points-based system is the right way to do it.
Having been forced to repeatedly defend the previous government’s “tens of thousands” pledge on immigration, May is also likely to want to be particularly careful about saying anything which might come back to haunt her – particularly on a sensitive subject like this.
She said: “Whether we were on the side of Remain or Leave, I think we should be on the side of doing things in the interests of the British public”.
Mr Davis was flanked by Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and International Trade Secretary Liam Fox – who both campaigned for Brexit – as he addressed MPs on the progress made since the 23 June vote to leave the EU. They wanted some control in movement of people from the European Union into the United Kingdom.
“If the way Brexit ends up does not provide companies with a prospect of making sufficient profit to continue operating in the United Kingdom, of course there is no option that they can’t choose”.
Meanwhile, the Japanese government issued a document at the G20 warning that there could be repercussions for the thousands of Britons working for Japanese vehicle manufacturers, finance and hi-tech firms in the United Kingdom should the country lose access to the European Union single market.
In a statement before today’s speech, he said: “This is an historic and positive moment for our nation”.
She also answered a question about excessive corporate pay, something she has indicated she might tackle during her time as Prime Minister, and said the matter will be discussed in more detail during the autumn.
Britain is hoping to use Brexit as an opportunity to negotiate new free trade deals around the world.
Asked whether she was concerned this was too blunt an instrument, she replied: “One of the issues is whether or not points-based systems do work”.
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Theresa May has said leaders of five G20 nations have expressed willingness to explore free trade deals with the United Kingdom in the aftermath of Brexit, although none of the nations are among the UK’s top trading partners. “I intend to go out there and be ambitious”.
