May rejects Brussels an extra two years in
Your chance to get answers from PM
THERESA May yesterday rejected a fresh move from Brussels to try to keep Britain tied into the EU’s single market for an extra two years.
As she launched a charm offensive to sell her Brexit deal to business leaders, the Prime Minister dismissed reports that preparations are being made to extend the UK’s transition out of the European bloc until the end of 2022.
She insisted she wanted to stick to the current deadline – ending the so-called “implementation period” of close ties to Brussels by December 31, 2020.
Mrs May’s promise came as she made the case for her Brexit deal to hundreds of company executives at the Confederation of British Industry’s annual conference in London.
“We don’t think we’ll need any extension to the implementation period,” she told them.
Mrs May was given a warm welcome at the conference and, in stark contrast to the hostile treatment from her own party, she heard fulsome tributes from several business people for her “grit and determination” in getting this far in talks with Brussels.
One Eurosceptic Tory delegate who condemned her deal and branded the CBI the “Confederation of European Industry” was booed and met with cries of “rubbish”.
Chief EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has reportedly told European Union ambassadors the transition could extend as late as December 2022, to give time to strike a full trade deal and find ways to avoid using the “backstop” – which would keep the whole UK in the customs union to avoid a hard Irish border if an alternative has not been found.
During the extended period the UK might have to continue allowing uncontrolled immigration from the Continent and to continue large regular payments to Brussels.
Mrs May has previously said she would consider extending the transition by “a matter of months”, but THERESA May is preparing to answer tough questions from Daily Express readers about her Brexit deal.
As part of a countrywide campaign to persuade voters the agreement with Brussels is the best deal for Britain, the Prime Minister is taking part in an exclusive question-andanswer initiative with this newspaper’s loyal army of readers.
Mrs May said: “Please do write in with your questions. I’ll try to answer as many as I can.”
After unveiling her deal last week, the Prime Minister acknowledged “difficult choices” were made and admitted she felt “uncomfortable” about compromises.
But she insisted the overall package will deliver the demand of Leave voters by ensuring the UK regains control of laws, borders and billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money every year. hopes to conclude the future trade and security deal by the end of 2020.
Taking questions from delegates and journalists after her speech she was asked whether Britain would be out of the implementation period by the next election – the last possible date for that being May 5, 2022.
She said: “My view is that I don’t want that even to have to come into place. I want the future relationship to be able to be in place on January 1, 2021.
“If it were the case there was a short period of time when we needed an interim arrangement, then the UK could choose whether it is the backstop or the extending of the implementation period.
“I think it is important in delivering for the British people that we are out of the implementation period before the next general election.”
Speaking in Brussels yesterday, Mr Barnier said any extension of the transition period could not be indefinite but must be “a fixed period of time”, and a “final and specific proposal for these purposes” expected this week in talks.
In her speech to the gathering, Mrs May insisted the deal she wants to seal with fellow EU leaders on Sunday – but which many MPs threaten to then vote down in Parliament – both delivers on the 2016 referendum result and protects jobs and businesses.
Asked why voters should believe she had the right deal when so many of her own colleagues found it intolerable and even wanted to force her was