MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Hard Brexit: UK to leave the single market and Parliament will vote on the final deal, pledges PM May

In a long-awaited Tuesday speech, PM May also announced Parliament would get a vote on the final deal agreed between the UK and the European Union.

Prime Minister Theresa May has said the UK “cannot possibly” remain within the European single market, as staying in it would mean “not leaving the EU at all”, but at the same time promised to push for the “greatest possible” access to the single market following Brexit.

 In a long-awaited Tuesday speech, PM May also announced Parliament would get a vote on the final deal agreed between the UK and the European Union. And promised an end to the UK's “vast contributions” to the EU.

Theresa May announced the UK's 12 priorities for Brexit negotiations including: Maintaining the common travel area between the UK and Irish Republic; Tariff-free trade with the EU; A customs agreement with the EU; Continued “practical” sharing of intelligence and policing information and “Control” of immigration rights for EU citizens in the UK and UK citizens in the EU

Mrs. May said there would not be a “blow-by-blow” account of negotiations, set to get under way after Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty is invoked by the end of March. It was not her intention to “undermine” the EU or the single market, she added.

But she warned the EU against a “punitive” reaction to Brexit, as it would mean “calamitous self-harm for the countries of Europe and it would not be the act of a friend”. She said: “This agreement should allow for the freest possible trade in goods and services between Britain and the EU's member states.

”It should give British companies the maximum possible freedom to trade with and operate within European markets and let European businesses do the same in Britain. But I want to be clear: what I am proposing cannot mean membership of the single market.“

PM May added: ”It would, to all intents and purposes mean not leaving the EU at all. That is why both sides in the referendum campaign made it clear that a vote to leave the EU would be a vote to leave the single market.“

The single market allows the free movement of goods, services and workers between its members.

Mrs. May said: ”We will continue to attract the brightest and the best to work or study in Britain - indeed, openness to international talent must remain one of this country's most distinctive assets - but that process must be managed properly so that our immigration system serves the national interest.

“So we will get control of the number of people coming to Britain from the EU.”

Addressing an audience including senior ministers and foreign ambassadors in central London, Mrs. May said the UK had “voted for a brighter future for our country” and would become “stronger, fairer, more united” after Brexit. She said the country's history was “profoundly internationalist” and would remain so.

The prime minister said the UK had often been seen as “an awkward member state”, but the EU had not demonstrated “enough flexibility on many important matters for a majority of British voters”.

She told the remaining 27 EU member states: “We will continue to be reliable partners, willing allies and close friends. We want to buy your goods, sell you ours, trade with you as freely as possible, and work with one another to make sure we are all safer, more secure and more prosperous through continued friendship.”

Mrs May, who backed Remain in the referendum, called for a “new and equal partnership” with the EU, “not partial membership of the European Union, associate membership of the European Union, or anything that leaves us half-in, half-out”.

People who voted Brexit “did so with their eyes open”, the prime minister said, calling the vote a “great moment of national change”.

She said the country was “coming together” after June's referendum, adding: “Now we need to put an end to the division and the language associated with it - Leaver and Remainer and all the accompanying insults - and unite to make a success of Brexit and build a truly global Britain.”