News / Foreign Policy

May admits 'hard facts' in Brexit trade deal with EU

Friday, 02 March 2018 9:56 PM [ Last Update: Friday, 02 March 2018 9:58 PM ]

British Prime Minister Theresa May gives a speech on Brexit at Mansion House in London on March 2, 2018. (Photo by AFP)

Prime Minister Theresa May has admitted that there are “hard facts” Britain should be ready to face about the economic consequences of leaving the European Union.

May made the remarks Friday in a detailed speech to an audience of Tory cabinet ministers, business people and diplomats in London just weeks before starting negotiations on the future partnership with Brussels.

She confirmed the UK would leave the EU’s single market and customs union after Brexit in March 2019, noting the country may suffer new trade barriers as a result of her move.

Greg Clark, business secretary, left, Philip Hammond, chancellor of the exchequer, second left, and David Davis, Brexit secretary, arrive to listen to May's speech. (Photo by Getty Images)

"I want to be straight with people because the reality is we all need to face up to some hard facts. We are leaving the single market. Life is going to be different. In certain ways, our access to each other’s markets will be less than it is now.”

She also said there was “no escaping the complexity of the task ahead” as she acknowledged “tensions” in the British negotiating position while detailing the costly new systems needed to maintain post-Brexit trade.

She called for the "broadest and deepest possible agreement, covering more sectors and co-operating more fully than any free trade agreement anywhere in the world today."

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney arrives to listen to May's speech. (Photo by AFP)

May has previously said that any customs union deal with the EU would keep London from striking new trade deals with fast-growing economies like China and India.

However, she has been struggling to unite her cabinet and offer a clear path to the divorce. She is also facing a rebellion by a small group of pro-Europeans inside the ruling Conservative Party, while on the other side, over 60 Conservative lawmakers have called on her to quickly break from the EU, urging her to take a “hard Brexit” stance.

In Britain’s 2016 referendum, 52 percent, or 17.4 million people, voted to leave the EU while 48 percent, or 16 million, voted to stay.

May insists Britain will leave the EU as planned and there will be no rerun of the Brexit referendum.

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