Expat rights are Brexit priority

Speaking in London she said she wants to “guarantee the rights of EU citizens already living in the UK and of UK nationals in other states as early as possible”.

She added that EU expats in the UK were “still welcome” and she could guarantee their continued rights now if she had assurances from the other EU states about British expats in the EU. However at present her impression was that some favoured this and some did not.

As for the UK’s position on EU immigration post-Brexit, Mrs May refused to give any guarantee that Europeans would benefit from any easier entry than people of other nations, however the UK would continue to welcome “the brightest and the best”.

Mrs May also promised that the final article 50 ‘divorce’ deal would be put to both houses of parliament for a vote before it is accepted, however she did not reply to the question of a journalist who asked if Britain would remain in the EU if the deal was voted down. She hoped however the MPs would “respect the democratic decision that was taken”, she said.

The UK will seek to come out of European court control and the single market, she said, because staying in the single market would involve so many constraints that it would almost be like not leaving at all. She would also seek to leave the EU customs union, but may negotiate to retain ‘parts’ of it. The UK would stop making “vast contributions” to the EU annually, but might still contribute to certain projects.

Leaving the single market however, rules out a ‘Norway’ style deal, remaining in the wider European Economic Area, and means all of the benefits British expats gain from free movement would be up to be renegotiated one by one.

Mrs May hoped some changes would be “phased in” after Brexit, avoiding a “disruptive cliff edge”; and she wanted a free trade deal between the UK and the EU to allow the “best possible access” to trade with the EU single market. However she did not clarify what would happen if this cannot be concluded at the same time as the article 50 deal.

Mrs May said she had no wish to see the EU collapse and hoped the UK would remain on “best friend” terms with the other EU states.

However she warned that if some pursued a “punitive” deal, this would be “an act of calamitous self-harm” to the EU and from the UK’s point of view “no deal is better than a bad deal” and the UK would still cope.

The country of the UK was now “coming together” in a wish to “get on with it”, despite Brexit having been “divisive at times,” Mrs May said.