Tories’ vision of free trade is impossible, EU warns

THE EU has warned Theresa May that her vision of “frictionless” free trade after Britain leaves the EU will be “impossible”.

Michel Barnier, the EU’S chief negotiator, accused British politicians of failing to understand that the UK cannot leave the Single Market and the Customs Union without losing out. He also warned that Britain had “more to lose” than the European Union if it walked away from negotiations without a deal.

Speaking in Brussels, he said: “The decision to leave the EU has consequences. There will be no business as usual.

“It is clear that only the combination of the Customs Union and the rules of the internal market allow this free, ‘frictionless’ trade between our states.”