Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron, who wants a referendum on Brexit plans, said it would be “totally wrong” for the Government to force a deal on the country that voters had not backed.
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Their talks came a week before the leaders of the EU’s other 27 member states met in the Slovakian capital Bratislava to discuss the implications of Brexit for the union.
Theresa May said she would not give a “running commentary” on Brexit negotiations and “reveal our hand prematurely” to the European Union as she refused to say whether the country will stay in the single market. To put it simply, the ball is now in your court.
“I told Prime Minister May that I am convinced that it is in everyone s best interests that we start the negotiations soon to reduce and eventually end the uncertainty”, said Tusk.
May has said she will not show her hand before starting the Brexit talks, giving few details of what her government wants when it leaves the EU.
She declined, saying: “It would not be right for us to prejudge those negotiations”.
May also slapped down Brexit Secretary David Davis yesterday for suggesting that continued membership of the free trade zone was “very improbable”.
The PM and her ministers were accused of “waffle” by SNP Westminster leader Angus Robertson, while First Minister Nicola Sturgeon slammed them for using a “meaningless tautological soundbite” over concrete policy regarding Brexit.
The Scottish First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, protested that she had left a “cloud of secrecy” hanging over the talks by refusing to answer basic questions about her government’s stance.
During questions from MPs, Davis gave the strongest hint that a single market deal with Europe would be improbable if the European Union demanded Britain giving up control of its borders as a condition.
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”.
The government clarified after his remarks on Monday that this was no official policy.
But a spokeswoman said May felt little pressure, having won the agreement of European Union officials to take at least until the end of this year to come up with a negotiating stance for the talks that will shape Britain’s relationship with Europe and its future standing in the world.
We want the best deal for trade in United Kingdom goods and services, including our world leading financial services industry.
“The EU also needs to take time to prepare for the negotiations in terms of what approach the 27 will take”.
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He also said that cutting numbers would not necessarily mean Britain would have to give up its access to the EU’s lucrative single market – a fear that has muted some investment.
