“Have cake and eat it”: Is this the UK’s Brexit strategy?

Bettel’s comments come as EU leaders step up warnings that Britain can not expect to keep access to the single market while limiting immigration by European citizens after it leaves the bloc.

A range of other European nations now retain access to the EEA while not being part of the EU, such as Norway and Switzerland, with these countries able to capitalise on the economic benefits of the EEA without the restrictions of EU membership.

European Council President Donald Tusk struck an exasperated note Tuesday in a reply to British lawmakers, whom he said had accused EU officials of “attempting to prevent negotiations, thereby creating ‘anxiety and uncertainty for the United Kingdom and EU citizens living in one another’s territories'”.

The report warns that the fast-growing “flat white economy” of creative and tech businesses would be dealt a “body blow” if curbs on European Union immigration were introduced.

The notes, which filled a whole page of an A4 notebook, suggest no single market for the United Kingdom after Brexit, no “Norway-style deal” and accuse the EU’s Brexit negotiators of being “difficult”.

Notes carried by a Tory aide were leaked on Tuesday which suggested that the government’s position was “have cake and eat it” – a suggestion that Britain will be able have the best of both worlds when it leaves the EU. She said: “It’s not so much about how do you steel yourself, it’s about, ‘Are you doing the right thing?’ If you know you are doing the right thing, you have the confidence, the energy to go and deliver that right message”.

If MPs do get to decide on Article 127, they could potentially overcome the government’s small majority and keep Britain inside the single market after Brexit.

Mrs May has said she wants to guarantee the rights of EU citizens in the United Kingdom, but will not do so unless she receives reciprocal assurances from her European counterparts. And worryingly those in favour of taking us out of the European Union appear set to cut off their nose to spite their face – with an apparent call to end any negotiations with Europe before they’ve properly begun and already wishing to pull the plug on the prospect of transitional arrangements.

Mrs Merkel is likely to come under pressure from German voters to take a tough line with the United Kingdom in the Brexit negotiations, according to a new survey. For them, the uncertainty of a Brexit deal is a life-changing matter that Theresa May’s government has so far failed to address effectively.

“It is ironic too that arguing to leave the single market on the basis of reducing the regulatory burden we face would in fact lead to reduced trade due to an increase in regulatory trade barriers”.

“We need judicial clarification”, it said.

He urged ministers to keep single-market access for businesses and to relieve the short-term uncertainty over Brexit, saying it’s making it more hard for companies to make investment decisions.

Campaign group Leave.EU said remaining in the EEA would be an “undesirable position” in which the United Kingdom would be unable to control immigration and would still have to pay into the EU’s budget.