LONDON—British Prime Minister Theresa May has made it clear: the U.K. will make a clean break from the European Union and leave its single market of some 500 million people.
In her most direct remarks since the June 23 vote, May said Tuesday that Britain must regain control of its laws and borders, even as she called on the bloc to negotiate a free-trade agreement that will benefit both sides.
“We do not seek membership of the single market,” she said in a highly anticipated speech. “Instead, we seek the greatest possible access to it through a new, comprehensive, bold and ambitious Free Trade Agreement.”
May also made the EU an offer—she hopes—that it can’t refuse: arguing that a “cliff-edge for business or a threat to stability” is good for neither Europe nor Britain.
“I know there are some voices calling for a punitive deal that punishes Britain and discourages other countries from taking the same path,” she said. “That would be an act of calamitous self-harm for the countries of Europe. And it would not be the act of a friend.”
