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EU’s Tusk tells British PM: Start Brexit talks soon

The same statement revealed the problems with such a process, as Davis was interpreted as saying Britain would leave the single market.

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Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn accused the Government of issuing “contradictory messages” on Brexit which were exacerbating “huge uncertainty” about the UK’s future.

The negotiation of a formal deal will have to wait until after Mrs May has completed the two-year Brexit procedure under Article 50 of the European Union treaties, which she has said she will not trigger before the start of 2017.

May said: “I know many people are keen to see rapid progress and to understand what post-Brexit Britain will look like”.

May has signaled that she is in no rush to trigger the formal two-year round of exit talks with the other 27 members of the EU.

Earlier this week, Britain said it had set up a similar group with Australia to “scope out the parameters” of a future deal and prepare for bilateral negotiations.

The UK government has given mixed signals concerning how it will approach the talks on issues such as free-market access and border controls, with Brexit minister David Davis admitting it will be hard to achieve all the UK’s aims on the big points, something May has distanced herself from. “We will not reveal our hand prematurely and we will not provide a running commentary on every twist and turn of the negotiation”. “All of this is going to have to be negotiated with our European partners and the Prime Minister’s view is that we should go after the best deal we can”.

Mrs May also warned the Government would not be giving a “running commentary” on Brexit talks with Brussels as it could harm Britain’s position.

“In light of the fact that a number of Japanese businesses, invited by the government in some cases, have invested actively to the United Kingdom, which was seen to be a gateway to Europe, and have established value-chains across Europe, we strongly request that the United Kingdom will consider this fact seriously and respond in a responsible manner to minimize any harmful effects on these businesses”, it said.

In a statement to the House of Commons before PMQs, May said negotiations with the European Union was not about getting the Norway model or the Swiss model, but developing a British model.

She said in her statement to Parliament: “On 23 June, the British people were asked to vote on whether we should stay in the European Union or leave”.

Welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of the first Prime Minister’s Questions since the end of the summer recess. The agreement means Norway benefits from the free movement of persons, goods, services and capital within the European Single Market.

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He insisted that he “respected” the referendum result and did not want to see “a re-run” of the vote – just an opportunity for the people to decide on any deal put forward by the government over Britain’s departure.

Theresa May