Challenged to guarantee that jobs at Japanese auto factories in the United Kingdom were safe, the PM said: “What I have found good about the discussions I have had with a number of world leaders, including the discussions I have had with prime minister Abe, is the willingness from other countries to talk to the United Kingdom about future trade arrangements and the confidence that they have in the United Kingdom”.
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“We will trigger Article 50 as soon as is reasonably possible”, he said.
Her government’s newly-appointed Brexit minister Michael Russell said: “This is the issue between a hard Brexit and soft Brexit”.
Brexiters may have been left scratching their this week about what they voted for – after Theresa May ruled out the points-based immigration policy championed by Brexit campaigners.
Davis also said that while warnings over the impact of a Brexit vote on the economy had been “proven to be wrong”, Britain should “not get too optimistic before we close the deal”.
Australia vets immigrants according to their occupation, qualifications and other factors but May said that points-based systems were open to abuse and did not give the government full control over who enters the country.
“The best position in my view would be continued membership of the European Union – but let’s try and get the United Kingdom as a whole into the least-worst position and that means staying in the single market”, she said.
Accused by opposition lawmakers of “waffling” and lacking detail, Davis suggested there was little to lose to gain the restrictions over immigration despite warnings by European Union officials that Britain must accept the bloc’s four freedoms – including that of free movement – to be a member of the single market.
Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, regularly expressed support for a points-based system during the referendum campaign as did Liam Fox, the International Trade Secretary, Priti Patel, the International Development Secretary, Chris Grayling, the Transport Secretary, and Andrea Leadsom, the Environment Secretary.
Speaking at a news conference following the conclusion of the two-day meeting of the world’s leading economies in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou, May said she and Abe had agreed to work together to maintain and build on their countries’ relationship.
Shinzo Abe said he wanted more “predictability” about the Brexit process and measures to ensure Japanese firms based in the United Kingdom would not suffer as a result of leaving the EU. “All options are open to them”.
Mr Tsuruoka’s warning came after his government issued a 15-page list of demands aimed at protecting Japanese vehicle manufacturers and financial institutions in Britain after Brexit.
“What Japanese businesses in Europe most wish to avoid is the situation in which that they are unable to discern clearly the way the Brexit negotiations are going, only grasping the whole picture at the last minute”.
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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.
