Theresa May to Seek Clean Brexit From EU Prime minister to give speech on plans in London on Tuesday By Jenny Gross

Posted By on January 17th, 2017

http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-k-leader-to-seek-clean-break-from-eu-1484607869

LONDON—Prime Minister Theresa May is set to declare Tuesday that the U.K. wants a clean break from the European Union, in a closely watched speech in which she is expected to lay out her plans for the divorce.

Mrs. May is expected to say that Britain doesn’t want “partial membership” in the EU “or anything that leaves us half-in, half-out,” according to excerpts of a speech released by her office on Monday.

Previous such comments, interpreted to mean that Britain is heading toward a looser relationship with the EU and could lose access to the bloc’s common market, sent the pound tumbling. The currency dropped to three-month lows against the dollar in European markets Monday.

“We do not seek to hold on to bits of membership as we leave,” Mrs. May’s prepared remarks said. Instead, Britain will seek a new type of relationship with the EU, according to the remarks. The prime minister is to deliver the address to a group of diplomats and other officials in London on Tuesday.

The prime minister has repeatedly said London wants to control immigration. EU leaders have said the U.K. can’t impose restrictions on EU citizens’ ability to live and work in the U.K. and retain its existing economic relationship, which includes unfettered access to the EU’s market of 440 million consumers.

The speech excerpts released by her office made no reference to the single market.

Politicians who campaigned for Brexit said the U.K. will be better off once it is outside the single market and can negotiate its own trade deals with countries elsewhere. They say the U.K. will thrive if it is no longer bound to EU regulations and required to abide by the bloc’s free movement of people principle.

Tim Farron, leader of the pro-EU Liberal Democrats, said that Mrs. May is delivering “a destructive, hard Brexit and the consequences will be felt by millions of people through higher prices, greater instability and rising fuel costs.”

In recent weeks, Mrs. May has come under increasing pressure to spell out details of her vision for Britain’s exit as the country prepares to give formal notice at the end of March that it will leave.

Mrs. May has broadly outlined her priorities. In addition to immigration, she has said she wants to remove the U.K. from the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice, while maintaining good trading terms with Europe. She hasn’t said whether she wants to stay in Europe’s single market.

 “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 will say, according to the excerpts. She will also say she wants the U.K. post-Brexit to be “a magnet for international talent.”

“I want us to be a truly global Britain—the best friend and neighbor to our European partners, but a country that reaches beyond the borders of Europe too,” she is expected to say.

Negotiations between Britain and the remaining 27 EU governments are expected to be lengthy and contentious. CONTINUE AT SITE

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