The UK Government has published a speech from the Prime Minister, Theresa May, in which she outlines the UK’s view of its future economic partnership with the EU.

At the beginning of her speech, the Prime Minister states that the UK is leaving the Single Market (and Customs Union) and that “life is going to be different”. She also acknowledges that access to each other’s markets would be “less than it is now”. She further states that everyone would “not get everything they want” in the negotiations but that the UK and EU had “a shared interest in getting this right.”

As regards EU27 criticism that the UK was attempting to “cherry-pick” the best parts of the EU’s rules, she replies, “the fact is that every free trade agreement has varying market access depending on the respective interests of the countries involved.” On financial services, the Prime Minister states that the Chancellor will be setting out this week how financial services can and should be part of a deep and comprehensive partnership with the EU.

View PM speech on our future economic partnership with the European Union, 2 March 2018