Britain will not hold second European Union vote, says Theresa May’s spokesman

The Brexit sub-committee meeting comes after it emerged the European Union wants to put in place a method to rapidly curtail the UK’s single market benefits if it breaches agreements on a transition deal.

“There is no room for continued ambiguity”, the BCC letter said.

Key government departments still need to recruit hundreds of staff and the closing down of pre-Brexit programmes in order to create time and resources for delivering Britain’s exit is still to take place, the report concludes.

Koji Tsuruoka was speaking outside Number 10 after a meeting between Prime Minister Theresa May and 19 top Japanese bosses.

Britain and the European Union are heading for another big clash over Northern Ireland’s post-Brexit status, as Brussels pushes for greater clarity on a fragile compromise over the Irish border.

“Uncertainty is a major concern for an economy”, it said.

Hitachi Europe’s Deputy Chairman Stephen Gomersall, Mitsubishi CEO for Europe and Africa Haruki Hayashi, SoftBank Investment Advisers UK CEO Rajeev Misra and Nomura’s Executive Chairman in Europe, the Middle East and Africa Yasuo Kashiwagi joined the meeting with Japanese investors.

Many Japanese corporations have invested heavily in the United Kingdom, including global banking giant Nomura and top automakers Toyota, Nissan and Honda.

The UK Brexit secretary said it had not been “in good faith” to publish it.

May, whose government and party is divided over Brexit, has just eight months to strike a deal with the European Union on the terms of Britain’s withdrawal.

Japan’s foreign ministry confirmed Thursday that it stands by the memo.

May and Treasury chief Philip Hammond met the ambassador and executives of major Japanese firms including Toyota, Mitsubishi, Panasonic and Nissan, whose vehicle plant in Sunderland, England, employs 7,000 people.

Negotiations on the transition period began this week.

The senior government insider said it was now looking ambitious to even agree the terms of the proposed transition period in time for the March EU summit, which is many businesses’ deadline, after which point they say they will trigger Brexit contingency plans.

The priorities are likely to include ripping up regulations that financial services want to escape.

Consulting firm Oliver Wyman estimates that 75,000 finance jobs could be lost in the long term if Brexit goes badly.

Ever since the shock vote, supporters of European Union membership have been exploring an array of different legal and political methods to prevent what they see as the biggest mistake in post-World War Two British history.

According to a report by The Guardian Wednesday night, Soros, who has backed progressive-left candidates and causes both in the USA and overseas, has given more than $562,000 to the “Best for Britain” campaign, which aims to negate the results of the Brexit referendum and maintain Britain’s membership in the EU.

– Simon Cullen, Chris Liakos, Ivana Kottasová and Yoko Wakatsuki contributed reporting.