“I fully expect to see that [the United Kingdom and European Union will] both gain from the free trade agreement that comes out of the negotiation”.
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The prime minister was accused of backsliding on promises made by the Vote Leave campaign, after she cast doubt on the effectiveness of a system admitting people on the basis of their skills and refused to commit an extra £100mn to the NHS.
However, later, answering questions, Mr Davis did say that Article 50 would not be triggered “until the New Year” – hours after the prime minister declined to confirm that timetable.
Davis, addressing parliament for the first time since he was appointed after the vote, said the country could restore control over immigration and still get access to the EU’s single market because it was not in Brussels’ interest to hurt trade.
She gave little away during her visit to China, except to rule out introducing an Australian-style points-based immigration system for workers arriving from other parts of the bloc.
In China for the G-20 summit, May said she is not in favor of a point-based immigration system that had been backed by Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage, key leaders of the pro-Brexit campaign.
“It means getting the best deal for Britain – one that is unique to Britain and not an “off the shelf” solution”.
“This is an historic and positive moment for our nation”.
The report also urged Britain and the European Union to make the Brexit negotiation process transparent to avoid “unpleasant surprises”. “It is about seizing the huge and exciting opportunities that will flow from a new place for Britain in the world”, Mr Davis said.
“‘Free trade is not a gift from one country to another; it’s something that is mutually beneficial”, Davis added.
“I’m anxious”, Nigel Farage, one of the most prominent Brexit campaigners and former head of the UK Independence Party, told BBC radio when asked about May’s comments. “The important first step is to sort out what kind of Brexit we want”. When May met her Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe on the sidelines of the summit he asked that she ensure the environment for Japanese companies remains as “transparent and predictable as possible”, a Japanese official told AFP.
More than 1,000 Japanese companies do business in Britain, employing some 140,000 local people, and Japan’s direct investment in the country has topped 10 trillion yen ($96 billion) to date.
With a G20 summit under way in China, a Japanese government taskforce told Britain and the European Union to minimize the “harmful effects” of Brexit on firms that treat the United Kingdom as a gateway to Europe.
May said that following Brexit “we will be looking to establish new trading relationships around the globe”.
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“This is not about accessing a shop, this is signing on to the four freedoms, the things that underpin the single market, and unless you sign on to those you do not get to access the single market and that could be – many are now saying – very hard”, he added.
