MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Without consent from Gibraltarians, no sovereignty negotiations, PM May tells Donald Tusk

“The PM reiterated UK’s desire to ensure a deep and special partnership with the European Union following its exit”

Prime Minister Theresa May reiterated on Thursday the UK’s desire to ensure a deep and special partnership with the European Union, but as the UK exits the EU and “there would be no negotiation on the sovereignty of Gibraltar without the consent of its people”. Mrs. May made the statement after meeting at 10 Downing Street with the president of the European Council Donald Tusk for talks following the triggering of Article 50.

 A Downing Street spokesperson said that “The Prime Minister and President of the European Council Donald Tusk had talks this afternoon in Downing Street following last week’s Article 50 notification.

”The PM reiterated the UK’s desire to ensure a deep and special partnership with the European Union following its exit and noted the constructive approach set out by the Council in its draft guidelines published last week.

“She said the UK looked forward to formally beginning negotiations once the 27 member states agreed guidelines. Both leaders agreed that the tone of discussions had been positive on both sides, and agreed that they would seek to remain in close touch as the negotiations progressed.

”The PM also made clear that on the subject of Gibraltar, the UK’s position had not changed: the UK would seek the best possible deal for Gibraltar as the UK exits the EU and there would be no negotiation on the sovereignty of Gibraltar without the consent of its people“.

With the UK also remaining a full and engaged member of the EU for the next 2 years, the PM and Donald Tusk also discussed the agenda for the next EU Council meeting.

On Wednesday during her visit to Jordan and Saudi Arabia, the Prime Minister said that curbs on freedom of movement will not come into force straight after Britain has quit the European Union. Theresa May said there would be an “implementation” phase once a deal had been struck, with business and governments needing a “period of time” to adjust to the new rules.

”In terms of the deal that we negotiate and the arrangements that will come there, what we have talked about, you’ve used the phrase transitional phase; I have used the phrase implementation period,” Mrs May underlined.

“If you think about it, once we’ve got the deal, once we’ve agreed what the new relationship will be for the future, it will be necessary for there to be a period of time when businesses and governments are adjusting systems and so forth, depending on the nature of the deal – but a period of time when that deal will be implemented.

“What is crucial for the British public, what was part of the vote that they took last year, was that they want to ensure that we have control of our borders and control of our immigration and that’s exactly what we will do when we come out of the European Union.”

Mrs May had earlier been accused of backing away from a key Brexit promise after she appeared to concede that a trade deal with the EU cannot be signed until after the UK leaves. Opponents of a hard Brexit called on the Prime Minister to ensure that a transitional agreement was in place to avoid the risk of disruption to business if the UK makes a “cliff edge” departure from the EU without a trade deal.

A Downing Street spokesperson said that ”The Prime Minister and President of the European Council Donald Tusk had talks this afternoon in Downing Street following last week’s Article 50 notification.