Germany on Wednesday warned Britain against negotiating free trade deals with non-EU member states before it quits the bloc, after Prime Minister Theresa May sought to drum up commerce agreements during a G20 summit in China.
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Speaking in June before he was appointed as foreign minister, Johnson – figurehead of the Leave campaign and May’s one-time rival for the prime minister’s job – said a points-based system could bring back democratic control and better meet businesses’ needs. That’s what the British people want.
Theresa May has ruled out the points-based immigration system championed by Brexit campaigners, saying it would not give Britain full control of its borders.
May attended the G20 summit of world leaders in Hangzhou, her first worldwide summit as prime minister.
May, who backed staying in the European Union during the campaign, has also cast doubt on other Brexit campaign promises such as ending contributions to the European Union budget and using the money saved to fund the National Health Service (NHS) and scrap sales tax on petrol.
At her first major worldwide summit since becoming prime minister, May gave few details about when the formal Brexit divorce procedure would begin.
Japan’s ambassador to the United Kingdom has stressed that “all options are open” to Japanese businesses if Brexit negotiations do not meet demands.
Ahead of a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, May said Britain was enjoying a golden era in ties that would not be derailed by her decision to pause a part-Chinese funded $24 billion nuclear power station project at Hinkley Point. “We will be continuing that global strategic partnership with China”.
Mr Calenda, interviewed in Italy by Bloomberg Television, stressed the need for the remaining European Union countries to speed up progress on migration and trade, without the distraction of the United Kingdom talks.
“Voters want immigration controlled, but they want to trade too”, she added.
“One of the issues is whether or not points-based systems do work”, she told reporters on her way to a G20 summit in China, citing her experience as Britain’s longest-serving interior minister in over 50 years.
“I think there will be a lot of people today who voted for Brexit, who were happy when the Prime Minister said “Brexit means Brexit”, but are now just a little bit anxious”.
The move led to Mrs May being accused of “backsliding” on immigration by outgoing UKIP leader Nigel Farage, but she insisted the Australian style system was not the answer to the issue.
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His statement came at the same time as MPs in Westminster Hall were debating a petition calling for a second referendum.
