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PM May says United Kingdom to become leader in free trade despite Brexit

Britain and Australia have discussed negotiating a post-Brexit trade agreement, the two countries’ leaders said today at the G20 summit in China, as Britain seeks to secure its economic ties before quitting the EU.

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Davis also said the government was firm that it wanted to have the “freest possible trading relationship” with the European Union while controlling immigration into Britain.

She is also expected to have a brief discussion with Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe.

The Prime Minister will give her verdict on the £18 billion project later this month, with security implications and the high cost of the energy produced by the Somerset plant among the concerns raised by critics about the scheme.

Britain will pursue an immigration system that enables the government to decide who enters the country and not a points-based system that gives an automatic right to those who meet certain criteria, a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Theresa May said on Monday. Australia is “determined” to provide its ally with support in negotiating new deals with other countries, Turnbull added. “I think that’s what the British people want”.

In the wake of its vote to leave the European Union, Britain must renegotiate its access to the markets of the rest of the world, as well as those of the grouping it is leaving.

“I’ve been clear we will be continuing that global strategic partnership with China”. In fact, we want to be even more outward-looking around the whole of the world.

She said the Australian trade minister would visit Britain this week for exploratory talks on the shape of a British-Australian trade deal.

Australia would be “one of the first countries we will be looking to”, she said, in what would be among the first such negotiations following the Brexit vote.

Mrs May’s meeting with President Xi will come after the summit has formally closed.

Asked whether her decision to delay final approval for the planned nuclear power plant in Somerset had damaged United Kingdom relations with her hosts, Mrs May said: ” A decision about Hinkley will be made later this month, but our relationship with China is about more than Hinkley.

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The Prime Minister said the delay was down to “the way I operate” because she wanted a fresh look at the evidence for the power plant.

Getty Images              David Davis the U.K. minister in charge of shepherding the Brexit will update lawmakers on progress and next steps Monday