May adamant

UK can have a bespoke trade deal

Theresa May has told Michel Barnier he was wrong to suggest Britain cannot have a bespoke trade deal with the EU, and quoted one of his own aides to prove her point.

Mr Barnier said at the weekend that Britain cannot “cherry pick” parts of the EU it wants to keep. But right-hand man Stefaan De Rynck told an audience at Chatham House in London that every trade deal is bespoke.

Mrs May told the Commons: “Today one of the senior members of the negotiating team has made it clear that UK can indeed have its own bespoke agreement.”