United Kingdom finance minister stresses London’s importance to EU

The 65-year-old, who heads up the European Commissions 30-strong Brexit taskforce, said he expected formal negotiations to last less than 18 months once the United Kingdom government has triggered Article 50, the official mechanism to split from the EU.

Barnier told reporters that “time will be short” for negotiations because the proposed deal needed to be ratified as part of the two year process set to be triggered in March.

A concrete deal concerning Brexit must be made by October of 2018, says the European Union’s chief negotiator for the process. He says that the single market and its four freedoms, such as the freedom of movement, are “indivisible”. “They have said we want to leave the European Union, the Government will deliver on the vote of the British people”.

For months, Britain’s government has suggested that, when the country leaves the European Union, it will be able to retain numerous economic advantages of membership.

“Our past successes as a nation over many centuries has been because we’ve been one of the greatest trading nations on the planet, you’ve seen that in this region with the great success of Hong Kong”, Hunt said.

While bankers and corporate executives would welcome clarity about the UK’s long-term plan and a transition to it, May is reluctant to give too many details about her ambitions early on for fear she would hand a negotiating advantage to her interlocutors.

But Barnier warned that that the effective negotiating time will be less.

Last month, three High Court judges agreed.

A Number 10 source stressed that any backing of Mrs May’s amendment would not satisfy the ruling that she must get parliamentary approval before triggering Article 50, which the Government is now challenging in the Supreme Court.

He said there was a “common interest in not prolonging this state of uncertainty” and that a “short transitional agreement” could be reached but Britain has not indicated what type of relationship it wants with the EU.

Seeing the comments as a clear attempt at provocation, senior Tory MPs rounded on the former French foreign minister to accuse him of “grandstanding”.

“It doesn’t matter what colour she tries to paint this, her plans to leave the single market will wreck the economy”.

Discussing the thinking behind the Government amendment, a Number 10 source said: “Crucially, from our perspective, it’s making sure that Parliament are very clear they are not going to use this as a delaying method”.

Davis said on Wednesday that the opposition Labour Party’s Brexit spokesman, Keir Starmer, was seeking to “keep his options open” regarding a second referendum. Such a scenario seems unlikely, however, and would not correspond to general European Union practice of trying to negotiate a deal, even when it is only reached at the last possible moment.

She was referring to a melange of terms – hard Brexit, soft Brexit, grey Brexit, black Brexit – to describe the different models for severing ties with the European Union, reflecting a fractured approach as her government approaches this daunting task.

May hopes to stick to her timetable but faces obstacles after a court ruled that the government needs parliament’s assent to invoke Article 50. Bank of England Governor Mark Carney says some sort of transitional period would be advantageous as it would allow firms to adjust. This, of course, is dependent on the entire idea of Brexit not being rejected by parliament, who are now involved in a serious debate with the Conservative government concerning its future.

“The things I’ve been hearing so far are incompatible with smooth and orderly”, said Dijsselbloem, who also chairs the group of euro-area finance ministers.