Earlier in the week Downing Street had attempted to play down Brexit Secretary David Davis’s suggestion that it was “improbable” Britain could remain in the single market.
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At a separate news conference minutes later, European Council President Donald Tusk reiterated the EU’s stance that they will not start negotiating with Britain on its future relationship with a 27-member bloc until the British government formally invokes Article 50.
British voters decided in June to leave the European Union and the government has come under pressure from the opposition Labour Party and other countries to clarify how it intends to exit the bloc and rebuild its trade ties.
May is under mounting pressure at home and overseas for her to clarify her plans for Britain’s exit from the European Union, or Brexit.
Mr Davis insisted there will be no attempt to “delay, frustrate or thwart” the will of the British people for the country to leave the EU.
“I want a system where the government is able to decide who comes into the country”.
But May is under strong pressure at home to define what a post-Brexit world would look like, and one of her key challenges would be renegotiating Britain’s access to world markets – an issue that Brussels now undertakes on its behalf.
A petition calling for the Government to hold a second poll as the turnout on June 23 was below 75% and fewer than 60% of the vote backed Brexit has received 4.1 million signatures, although it was subject to claims it had been hacked.
“I told Prime Minister May that I am convinced that it is in everyone s best interests that we start the negotiations soon to reduce and eventually end the uncertainty”, said Tusk.
Now Australian minister Steven Ciobo has made clear during a visit to London for talks with International Trade Secretary Liam Fox that only “preliminary” discussions are possible at this stage.
The complexity of the challenge posed by Brexit was underlined by Australia’s warning that it will be unable to strike a free trade deal with the United Kingdom for at least two and a half years.
For now, the work of Britain’s new Department for International Trade will likely be largely focused on diplomacy and, crucially, amassing a team of experts after decades of relying on the European Union to negotiate its trade deals. “There will be new freedoms, new opportunities, and new horizons for this great country”.
The EU president said he aimed to establish the “best possible relations” with the UK.
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As head of the European Council, which groups heads of EU states and governments, Tusk leads the body that defines the bloc’s political direction and priorities.
