May warns of ‘tough times’ on road to Brexit

... is the false promise of tariff-free trade with Europe AND control of immigration, says the ex-Business Minister in a stunning rebuke to the Three Brexiteers

BRITAIN’S exit from the EU will not be ‘plain sailing’ and could lead to ‘difficult times ahead’ for the economy, Theresa May has admitted.

The Prime Minister’s remarks follow last week’s Cabinet decision that Britain should withdraw completely from the European single market as part of Brexit – a move which could lead to exporters having to pay tariffs when they trade with the EU.

In her first interview since entering Downing Street two months ago, Mrs May also: Ruled out a snap Election; Vowed there would be no second EU referendum;

And said there would not be a second Scottish independence vote.

The Prime Minister’s comments on the impact of leaving the EU follow claims of a ‘Brexit boom’ with ‘out’ supporters pointing to better than expected growth and employment figures since the vote as vindication.

Mrs May, pictured right during the interview to be broadcast on today’s Andrew Marr Show on BBC1, said: ‘We have had some good figures and better figures than some had predicted would be the case. [But] I’m not going to pretend that it’s all going to be plain sailing. I think we must be prepared for the fact that there may be some difficult times ahead.’

A Cabinet meeting at Chequers on Wednesday concluded that the UK should pull out of the single market in order to secure greater control over immigration – because the country would no longer be obliged to accept the freedom of movement of EU nationals. Mrs May told the BBC: ‘The British people are very clear... they don’t want free movement to continue in the way that it has done in the past.

‘That was a message from the British people. But people also want to see the job opportunities, to see the economic opportunities, and so getting a good deal in trade and services is also obviously important for us.’

The Prime Minister also moved to quash speculation that she will take advantage of Labour’s turmoil – and her own political honeymoon – to hold a snap Election, which experts say could boost her wafer-thin majority of 12 to more than 100.

‘We’ll be continuing the manifesto on which the Conservative Government was elected in 2015, so I don’t think there’s a need for an Election,’ Mrs May said. ‘I’m not going to be calling a snap Election.

‘I’ve been very clear that I think we need that period of time, that stability, to be able to deal with the issues that the country is facing and have that Election in 2020.’ She also ruled out a second EU referendum, saying: ‘We respect the wishes of the British people.

‘The British people want us to leave the European Union and that’s what we will do.’

And she rejected SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon’s call for another Scottish independence vote, following her loss in 2014, in the wake of the Brexit vote.

‘If you look at some of the results that are now coming out of polling in Scotland, they suggest that the Scottish people don’t want there to be a second referendum,’ she said.

Mrs May was due to arrive in China last night for the forthcoming G20 summit, where she is expected to hold talks about UK trade deals with the Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

British officials are also in discussion with New Zealand and Canada about exploiting the old imperial ties to boost British trade prospects in the aftermath of Brexit.

Mrs May said: ‘We are going to make a success of Brexit and one way we will do that is by playing to Britain’s strengths as a great trading nation and forging our own new trade deals around the world.

‘I will be seizing the opportunity to talk to leaders from countries like Australia who have already made clear that they want to strike a deal once we have left the EU.’

Rules out snap General Election Vows there’ll be no new EU vote

IVOTED against Brexit, but I accept the result. It might have caused some tears in the Soubry household, but Britain voted to leave the EU so now let’s get on and make the best of it. I assumed the Cabinet’s awayday would end with at least the semblance of a plan, especially after a busy summer for Messrs Johnson, Fox and Davis. In the event we got nothing more than a resolve to curb immigration – thin gruel indeed.

Our Three Brexiteers are in considerable danger of being more like Compo, Foggy and Clegg – colourful characters, but very much the last of the Chequers summer wine.

We need the very best deal for our country – a bespoke one, a deal that will benefit our economy, building on our successes and strengths and providing a prosperous future for generations to come.

In short, we need, as the Conservative Party Manifesto promised, to continue to be part of the single market.

It is a delusion to argue that Britain can prosper outside of this area.

Within days of the referendum result – while others were pursuing their leadership ambitions in Westminster – I went to the North of England to talk to businesses.

The mighty Nissan plant in Sunderland was top of my list.

The assembly line is a wonder to behold. It’s a constantly moving process which starts with a piece of metal and emerges within minutes as a fully fledged car. More than 70 per cent of these new vehicles are driven off to be sold across Europe.

NISSAN has other plants in Europe. It’s up to the manufacturer where it chooses to invest the hundreds of millions of pounds it costs to produce a new model and, like many others, it chose Britain because of our reliable, skilled workforce and our membership of the single market.

It’s the biggest free trade area in the world, made up of the current 28 member countries of the EU and other nations, such as Norway, that are members of the single market but not of the EU.

None of its member states can charge custom duties or set tariffs against another member, and we all operate under the one set of rules.

It means a British business, big, medium or small, can sell whatever it makes or whatever service it supplies as easily to someone living in Barcelona or Berlin as to someone living in Birmingham or Barnsley.

There are more than 500million people in this free-trade single market.

Ever wonder why you don’t see many American-made cars being driven around Britain?

Because as members of the single market, we slap on an extra ten per cent of the price as a tariff on every car made in the US and sold in this country.

In return, they add tariffs of two per cent on our cars exported into the States.

If we leave the single market, those British-made Nissans will cost more when sold in countries in the single market.

And Nissan doesn’t have time to wait while Liam Fox and Boris Johnson carve out new trade deals with other countries. As they struggle to sort out Brexit, important employers such as Nissan are making decisions now about future investments.

Since the single market was created in 1993, our economy has grown by 69 per cent, only a fraction behind the United States (71 per cent) and well ahead of our EU partners.

This is because Britain has won more foreign investment than most other members of the EU.

Throughout the world we have been seen as a reliable, tarifffree bridgehead into the single market with a hard-working

and skilled workforce.

This in turn has been hugely beneficial to our job market.

Employment of UK nationals is at a record high.

Nearly 75 per cent of those in the 16-64 age group are in work.

When those in full-time education and those not working because they are looking after children or other family members are excluded, Britain is practically at full employment.

You have probably read about Britain’s service sector, which makes up 80 per cent of our economy.

My former boss, the current Communities Secretary, Sajid Javid, helpfully described a ‘service’ as something you can’t put on the floor – such as insurance. The biggest element of our service sector is financial services. Whatever you think about bankers and their bonuses, they form an important part of the fabric of our economy. What are called ‘passporting arrangements’ allow us to sell financial services throughout the single market. Put aside the stereotype: most financial services, such as the provision of insurance, are based outside of London. As our Chancellor, Philip Hammond, has argued, our financial services would greatly suffer if we left the single market.

THE benefits of the single market are not only for today, but they will increase tomorrow as co-operation deepens, notably in sectors such as telecommunications, digital and audiovisual, energy, transport and financial services.

Experts have forecast that this expansion of the single market could create 790,000 jobs in the UK by 2030.

Maybe it’s the way we teach history in our schools, maybe it’s because we are too ready to believe the gloom and doom merchants, but I believe we have forgotten much of Britain’s proud history and the things that made and still make us a great country.

Britain has always been a first-class trading nation – selling our goods and services across the world.

We’ve always been open to trade, and post-referendum it’s vital we send out a clear message that we’re still very much open for business.

But don’t be fooled by the Brexiteers, who have leapt on figures out last week which show our economy is doing well.

The underlying currents are very different. The last set of GDP stats showed our economy was growing very well in April, by 2.3 per cent, but then fell off in May and June.

The swift action of the Bank of England and my party’s commendable ability to put our country first by placing Theresa May’s competent and steadying hands on the tiller meant we were able to better weather the Brexit storm.

It doesn’t give me any pleasure to say it but we are in for more difficult times.

The Brexiteers have promised tariff-free trade with the EU, controlled immigration, £350million more to spend on the NHS per week and a golden future for our economy unfettered by the EU. It’s time for them to stand and deliver.

They claim that we can have our cake and eat it – curbing immigration without losing access to the single market.

We can’t. We will just end up with soggy bottoms.

I voted for Theresa May and I believe she will be an excellent Prime Minister.

I very much hope that she will make membership of the single market her number one goal in our Brexit negotiations.

We are seen as a reliable bridgehead into Europe