Britain must make its own rules – May

THE final Brexit deal must allow Britain to set its own rules and strike “ambitious” trade deals with countries around the world while having the “best possible” access to EU markets, Theresa May has told her Cabinet.

As the full Cabinet came together to discuss for the first time the UK’s preferred “end state” for its future relationship with the EU, the Prime Minister insisted she was confident of achieving a result which will lead to a dynamic post-Brexit economy delivering growth, jobs and prosperity.

Her official spokesman said Mrs May’s message was backed by the whole Cabinet at the meeting in 10 Downing Street, though no formal position is expected to be agreed for some time, with further discussions scheduled for the new year.

In the 105-minute meeting, the Cabinet did not discuss the position set out so far by the European Commission’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, whose vision of a free trade agreement similar to that struck with Canada in 2016 differs sharply from Mrs May’s demand for a bespoke UK deal delivering a “deep and special partnership”.

In comments to a number of European newspapers, including the Guardian, Mr Barnier said there would be no special arrangement to allow City firms to trade freely in the EU if Britain leaves the single market.

“There is no place (for financial services),” he said.

“There is not a single trade agreement that is open to financial services. It doesn’t exist.”

Describing the position as a result of “the red lines that the British have chosen themselves”, he stated: “In leaving the single market, they lose the financial services passport.”

Mrs May’s spokesman said the PM told the Cabinet that she was seeking “a significantly more ambitious deal than the EU’s agreement with Canada”. And she ruled out the option of a Norway-style membership of the European Economic Area as “democratically unsustainable” because it would mean the UK having automatically to observe rules and regulations which it had no influence over.

The PM’s spokesman said she told ministers that the starting point for discussing the UK’s preferred end state was her own speeches at Lancaster House and in Florence earlier this year, in which she ruled out membership of the single market and customs union, but voiced her hope for a new “deep and special partnership” spanning the economic and security relationship with the EU.

She told Cabinet it was clear that the Government was seeking “a deal which secures the best possible trading terms with the EU, enables the UK to set rules which are right for our situation and facilitates ambitious third-country trade deals”, said the spokesman.

Britain would need to be “creative” in designing proposals for a future economic partnership, Mrs May said.