UK PM May says Britain ‘cannot remain in the Euro single market’

The final Brexit deal reached between the UK and EU will be voted on by both Houses of Parliament, Theresa May has announced. In a speech outlining the Government’s plans on leaving the EU at Lancaster House in London, the Prime Minister said her plans cannot allow the UK to remain in the European single market. Mrs May said: “I can confirm today that the Government will put the final deal that is agreed between the UK and the EU to a vote in both Houses of Parliament before it comes into force.”

[We seek] the greatest possible access to the single market on a reciprocal basis, through a comprehensive trade agreement.

Theresa May

And she said the UK would regain control of its borders, would no longer be under the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice and would work to maintain a common travel area with the Republic of Ireland. But she sounded a warning to the EU against trying to “punish” the UK, claiming a punitive Brexit deal would be “an act of calamitous self-harm” and adding “no deal for Britain is better than a bad deal for Britain”.

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