UK’s PM Theresa May is on a three weeks’ holiday … she held on to her beliefs of a “hard Brexit”.
The Conservatives are suggesting to postpone the start of Britain’s life after Brussels and being on its own two feet by what’s called a “transitional” period.
Hammond says UK will seek Brexit transitional deal for up to three years | The Guardian |
Britain’s relationship with the EU may look similar to its current one for up to three years after Brexit, with free movement, access to the single market and an inability to strike trade deals with other countries, Philip Hammond has said.
The chancellor confirmed multiple reports over the past week that the cabinet had agreed to seek a transitional period of about three years, ending before the next election, which is due in 2022.
He said there was broad consensus in the cabinet that such a period would be necessary to cushion the impact of leaving the EU.
The agreement was made last week but not announced by Theresa May, who has left the UK for a three-week holiday. Instead, the news has seeped out from other cabinet ministers, and was confirmed by Hammond on Friday morning.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, the chancellor conceded that “many things will look similar” the day after Brexit officially takes place in March 2019. A three-year transitional period would have to be agreed by the rest of the EU, and only after that would the UK have a completely new immigration system, its own trade deal with the EU, and be able to strike trade deals with other countries.
