BRITAIN: PM Theresa May Takes Hard Line On Brexit, Calls For Clean Break From Single Market [VIDEO]

The New York Times reports:

In a speech that holds the potential to define Britain’s relations with its neighbors for decades to come, Prime Minister Theresa May on Tuesday charted a course toward a clean break with the European Union after more than four decades of integration with the Continent.

Mrs. May emphasized Britain’s determination to regain control of migration from the European Union and rejected the supremacy of the European Court of Justice, even at the risk of losing unfettered access to the single market and its nearly 500 million consumers.

“Let me be clear,” she said, adding that any agreement would be sent to both houses of Parliament for approval, “What I am proposing cannot mean remaining in the single market.”

The long-awaited speech was a shift for Mrs. May, who had dropped heavy hints about her thinking but had refused to outline publicly how Britain will leave the bloc after voters supported a withdrawal in a June referendum.

More from the Guardian:



May’s disclosure that she has told EU leaders she wants to guarantee the rights of EU citizens who are already living in Britain will offer little comfort to those settled in the UK, a grass roots campaign group has said.

“EU citizens are living in limbo and Theresa May has done very little to reassure them today,” said Nicolas Hatton, the founder of group the3million.

“I am very disappointed that the prime minister didn’t take this opportunity in front of an international audience to unilaterally guarantee our rights of residence and we will continue to campaign to obtain a firm guarantee before article 50. We are not bargaining chips, we are human beings.”

May revealed that she has already discussed the issue with European leaders, but some are not prepared to seal an early deal which will also guarantee the rights of the 1.2m Britons in Europe.