Tusk pressures May to trigger article 50 ‘as soon as possible’

The PM and her ministers were accused of “waffle” by SNP Westminster leader Angus Robertson, while First Minister Nicola Sturgeon slammed them for using a “meaningless tautological soundbite” over concrete policy regarding Brexit.

(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth). Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May, left, welcomes President of the European Council, Donald Tusk to 10 Downing Street in London, Thursday, Sept. 8, 2016.

“I have no doubt that at the end of the day our common strategic goal is to establish the closest possible relations”, he said. Ball in United Kingdom court to start negotiations.

Tusk who, as head of the European Council, leads the body that defines the bloc’s political direction and priorities, said on Twitter that it was “in everybody’s best interest to start ASAP (as soon as possible)”.

May, who became prime minister in July following Britain’s decision to leave the European Union, and Mr. Tusk to establish a good working relationship.

On Wednesday, May’s spokeswoman said the two leaders would not only talk Brexit, but would also discuss issues on the agenda for the October meeting of European Union leaders, suggesting that Britain still plans to play a role.

May’s spokeswoman, Helen Bower, denied that Tusk’s comments were an attempt to put pressure on Britain. The prime minister said Britain would be seeking a new relationship that would involve control over immigration from the bloc coupled with the ” right deal for trade in goods and services” but that she wouldn’t “provide a running commentary on every twist and turn of the negotiation”.

May has signaled that she is in no rush to trigger the formal two-year round of exit talks with the other 27 members of the European Union, amid divisions within her government about the kind of deal Britain hopes to strike.

But she has indicated that the United Kingdom would be looking for a bespoke deal, and will not simply follow Norway’s example, which is a member of the single market but also bound by the free movement of people, a principle that allows European Union nationals to live anywhere within the bloc.

Earlier this week, Britain said it had set up a similar group with Australia to “scope out the parameters” of a future deal and prepare for bilateral negotiations.

The bloc hopes to complete exit negotiations before the next elections to the European Parliament are held in the second quarter of 2019.

May has said Britain will not trigger Article 50 of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty to start the exit procedure this year to give her government time to come up with a negotiating stance for the complicated talks that will shape the country’s future standing.