May, a Eurosceptic who remained neutral during June’s referendum on leaving the European Union, was appointed prime minister last month following David Cameron’s resignation as Conservative Party leader.
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The chancellor wants to ensure that Brexit negotiations protect particular parts of the economy before a meeting of the cabinet on Wednesday at Chequers.
While Mrs May made the unusual decision to hold the meeting at her countryside retreat outside London in an effort to encourage a more thoughtful debate, no consensus is likely to emerge on how Britain should negotiate its divorce from the EU.
The UK voted to leave the European Union on June 23, but May has said she will not invoke Article 50, the formal two-year process for divorce from the bloc, before the end of the year to allow time to prepare the exit strategy. The House of Lords is also overwhelmingly in favour of Britain staying in the European Union, meaning that obtaining formal parliamentary approval for Brexit could take years.
Last week Mr Davis and Dr Fox held what was described as a “clear the air” meeting with Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, in an attempt to calm tensions over which department should have ultimate control over Britain’s trade policy post-Brexit.
It will be the Prime Minister’s first global trip outside Europe and Mrs May will “use this opportunity to highlight the wealth of opportunities that will arise from Brexit”, Downing Street insiders said.
According to the Independent, government officials have dismissed Brooks’ predictions and insist Article 50 will be invoked as planned. Both want the Prime Minister to activate Article 50 of the Lisbon treaty – the trigger for formal Brexit talks to begin with Brussels – in early 2017.
The party’s European affairs spokesman Stephen Gethins said: “It is over two months since the result of the Brexit referendum and ministers are only now being asked to come up with their ideas about how it might work at a “country house away day”.
But EU leaders have warned that Britain can not have “single market a la carte” and free movement of people remains a fundamental principle of the economic and political union.
The meeting will take place after reports of a government split over whether or not the United Kingdom government should try to retain its membership of the single market.
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel has ruled out any possibility for Britain to secure access to the EU’s internal market while limit freedom of movement at the same time in her tough response to the union’s first exit since its foundation almost six decades ago.
