Theresa May will discuss Brexit with European Council president Donald Tusk amid increasing pressure over a lack of detail in the Government’s stated strategy.
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Since Britain’s 23 June vote to leave the bloc, the government has given little away about its plans for Brexit, focussing instead on preparing for formal negotiations which it has said will not begin before the end of the year.
The spokeswoman also played down reports that European Union migrants will need to secure a job before they are allowed to move to Britain under post-Brexit arrangements, insisting that the Government was looking at “various” options for imposing additional controls.
But Australian trade minister Steven Ciobo warned in a speech in London late Tuesday that negotiations on a bilateral agreement may be “a few years off” – and said that his country would prioritize a deal with the EU.
The British premier also used her first parliamentary appearance after a summer break to embarrass Opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn over the impending Labour party leadership election.
The Brexit Secretary told MPs it was “very improbable” that Britain would remain a member of the single market if it faced making concessions on border controls.
Mr Davis said the PM had been concerned this system was “too open-ended” and in fact wanted a model that would be “more robust, not less”.
“It is after Brexit that the United Kingdom. would formally negotiate with the EU new arrangements on its relationship, such as trade, participation in the single market, and movement of labour”, Jean-Claude Piris, former head of the legal service of the Council of the European Union, wrote in the Financial Times. That’s why we need to do the work that there is.
Her government, May said, will not take decisions until ready, nor will it reveal its hand prematurely or provide “a running commentary on every twist and turn of the negotiation”.
“We are seeking a unique to Britain rather than an off-the-shelf solution with Europe”, he said.
He said his words may sound “brutal”, but: “We need to protect the interests of the members of the European Union that want to stay together, not the one which wants to leave”.
May also told MPs that India, Mexico, South Korea and Singapore were also keen to remove trade barriers.
Former work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith asked for confirmation from Mr Davis that control of the UK’s borders will be “absolutely not negotiable”.
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He faced questions – including from former Tory minister Nicky Morgan – about the importance of retaining access to the European Union single market, saying he did not accept this would involve a “necessary trade-off” with accepting the free movement of people.
