British premier ‘to outline clean Brexit’

Theresa May expected to announce UK’s withdrawal from EU single market, Customs union and court of justice

LONDON // British prime minister Theresa May will reveal her plans for a clean divorce from the European Union in a speech tomorrow, government sources said yesterday.

Her office said Mrs May would call for Britain to unite and get behind the Brexit, and for an end to the insults and rancour between the Leave and Remain camps.

But British newspapers said she would also be laying out the path towards a “hard Brexit” – a strategy likely to infuriate Remain voters even more. Mrs May will commence two years of Brexit negotiations when she triggers the Article 50 departure process by the end of March.

She has been under pressure to reveal her strategy for the talks that will set out the future relationship between Britain and the EU.

Downing Street would not be drawn on similar reports in several newspapers that she was tar- geting a hard Brexit – withdrawal from the single market, the European Customs union and the European court of justice – in order to regain control of EU immigration.

The Sunday Times said Mrs May would announce that Britain was seeking a “clean and hard Brexit” based on these points.

“May’s triple Brexit blast” was how The Sun put it, saying she would “show she means business by announcing a triple-whammy departure from the EU”.

The Sunday Telegraph quoted a government source as saying that “she’s gone for the full works. People will know when she said ‘Brexit means Brexit’, she really meant it”.

Downing Street would say only that the speech would call on Britain to “set aside old divisions, and unite to make a success of Brexit”. Although the referendum on Britain’s EU membership last June split the country – the Leave campaign won with 52 per cent of the vote – most Britons share a vision of a future Britain that is “secure, prosperous, outward-looking and tolerant”, according to Mrs May’s office.

“Setting out the government’s plan for the Brexit negotiations, the PM will highlight the importance of building on common goals – such as protecting and enhancing workers’ rights – and focusing on a positive vision of Britain outside the EU,” her office said. Mrs May – who had been a supporter of the Remain campaign – has revealed little on her negotiating position, but she has been clear that she wants control over immigration from EU countries, a major issue in the referendum.

According to her office, she plans to say that however Britons voted, they “need to put an end to the division and the language associated with it – Leaver and Remainer and all the accompanying insults – and unite to make a success of Brexit”.

The speech will be delivered at Lancaster House, a central London mansion.

The audience will be comprised of foreign ambassadors, Britain’s Brexit negotiating team and other senior officials involved in the EU departure process.

Meanwhile, Brexit secretary David Davis indicated that Britain would consider a transitional arrangement in the talks.

“If it proves necessary, we have said we will consider time for implementation of new arrangements,” he wrote in The Sunday Times.

“We don’t want the EU to fail, we want it to prosper politically and economically, and we need to persuade our allies that a strong new partnership with the UK will help the EU to do that.”