U.K.'s Theresa May: Britain to make a clean break from EU
LONDON — British Prime Minister Theresa May announced Tuesday that her country will make a clean break from the European Union and not be part of the alliance's single market for trade, as she outlined details for Brexit in a wide-ranging speech.
The single market allows the EU's 28 member countries to trade with each other without restrictions.
May said the United Kingdom will pursue a bold free trade agreement with the EU that should give companies the maximum freedom to trade with and operate in European markets and allow European firms to do the same.
She said the U.K. does not seek membership in the single market but is instead seeking the best possible access to it.
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“We seek a new and equal partnership — between an independent, self-governing, global Britain and our friends and allies in the EU," May said. "Not partial membership of the European Union, associate membership of the European Union, or anything that leaves us half-in, half-out. ... We do not seek to hold on to bits of membership as we leave."
The process to negotiate leaving the EU, known as Brexit, will take at least two years.
“The United Kingdom is leaving the European Union, and my job is to get the right deal for Britain as we do,” the prime minister explained.
A majority of Britons voted in a June referendum to leave the EU, a surprise outcome that shocked Europe and the United States. May — who became prime minister after the referendum prompted David Cameron to step down from the post — said she will trigger the exit process by the end of March when she formally invokes Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty.
May confirmed Tuesday that members of Parliament will vote on the final deal negotiated between the U.K. and the EU before it goes into force. The government is still awaiting a Supreme Court ruling on May's original plan to trigger the Brexit process without first getting approval from Parliament.
In her speech, May told EU nations that the vote to leave the alliance "represents no desire to become more distant to you, our friends and neighbors."
"You will still be welcome in this country as we hope our citizens will be welcome in yours," May said.
Britain is willing to quit the EU's single market to keep control over immigration from Europe, a key issue for many of the voters who backed Brexit. EU leaders have said the U.K. can't stay in the single market without also allowing the free movement of people from the European bloc into Britain.
May said she wants to guarantee that EU citizens now in Britain can remain, and that U.K. citizens living elsewhere in the alliance can stay.
She outlined 12 objectives for the Brexit negotiations, saying the government will provide certainty on issues whenever it can.
"I recognize how important it is to provide business, the public sector, and everybody with as much certainty as possible as we move through the process," she said.
Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn criticized the speech, saying May was "determined to use Brexit to turn Britain into a bargain basement tax haven on the shores of Europe."
Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon, who wants to remain in the single market, said a second referendum on Scottish independence from the U.K. was "more likely" following May's speech. The majority of Scots voted to remain in the EU in the June referendum. Scotland voted against becoming an independent country in a separate 2014 referendum.
"I'm not prepared for Scotland to be taken down a path which I firmly believe to be damaging not just to our economy but to the very kind of society that we are," Sturgeon told the BBC.
But German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier welcomed May's speech, saying it “created a little bit more clarity about the British plans."
He said the 27 other EU nations also want “good, close and trusting relations” with Britain and will aim for constructive negotiations. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is to meet Wednesday with lawmakers to discuss Germany’s position on Brexit.
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen of the National Front described May's address as “courageous,” saying it respected the will of the British people.
The British pound rallied after May's speech. On Monday, the pound fell lower than $1.20 — a three-month low — amid investor worries over the Brexit speech. It rose above $1.23 after May talked about her vision for free trade.