This shows the government is making alternative preparations in case it fails to strike a deal with the EU27.
This scuppers Liberal Democrat hopes for the final Brexit deal to be put to the public in a second plebiscite.
This is a strong bargaining chip for the U.K., which has highly-regarded police and intelligence services.In her Brexit speech last month, Theresa May cited Britain's security capabilities as one of three reasons the U.K. and the EU27 could come to the ``right agreement.'' After Brexit, ``Britain wants to be a good friend and neighbor in every way, and that includes defending the safety and security of all of our citizens,'' she said.
Trade Secretary Liam Fox on Feb. 1 told a panel of lawmakers that Britain aims to replicate EU tariffs at the WTO, ``so we don’t have the option of actually increasing our tariffs once we’re outside the EU.''
An early sign that Theresa May was considering leaving the Customs Union was her creation of a Department for International Trade. Inside the customs union, Britain isn't allowed to strike new free trade deals.
This is a vote winner for May. The Brexit campaign centered on the claim that Britain would get back 350 million pounds a week which it could spend on the National Health Service after leaving the European Union. The figure was emblazoned on the side of the Leave campaign's bus, which toured the country, even though the Office for National Statistics said Britain’s net contribution to the EU averaged about 135 million pounds a week.
Theresa May already faces a battle to preserve financial services jobs as banks work to preserve their access to EU markets. the CityUK lobby group estimates as many as 35,000 jobs may go to other EU nations, and already banks including JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, HSBC and UBS are making plans to move jobs to cities including Frankfurt, Dublin and Madrid.
The Brexiteers made frequent mention of fisheries in the run-up to the referendum, and one of the most amusing episodes of the campaign (for the press, at least) saw UKIP leader take to London's River Thames with a flotilla of fishermen calling for Britain to take back control of its waters. He was harangued as a ``liar and a fraud'' by the rockstar Bob Geldof, who took to the river with a flotilla of boats carrying Remain campaigners.
Theresa May is hoping this will give her leverage in the Brexit negotiations. However, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other EU leaders have signaled the integrity of the bloc is their priority. That may mean some economic sacrifices are made.
While the prime minister rejects the terms ``hard'' and ``soft'' Brexit, leaving the single market is the main feature of a hard Brexit.
This is a key provision by Theresa May to ensure buy-in from the opposition Labour Party to her Brexit plans. The party's main message during its campaign for a Remain vote last year was that leaving the EU would threaten workers' rights.
Many businesses are concerned that curbs on immigration will lead to labor shortages. Industries where foreign workers are key to filling gaps include hospitality, agriculture, construction, as well as the country's National Health Service.
Net immigration in the year to June stood at 335,000, just short of the record levels reached in 2015. When the Tories came to power in 2010, it was 244,000.
The Common Travel Area predates Britain's EU membership by half a century, so the U.K. should be able to maintain that. It will be harder to ensure the unhindered passage of goods post-Brexit, especially if the U.K. ends up with a different tariff regime than the EU.
The centerpiece of the Scottish paper was keeping Scotland in the EU's Single Market, even if the rest of the U.K. pulls out -- which is Theresa May's stated goal. That seems like an impossible ask, and Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon may use any failure by May to protect Scottish single market membership as a rallying cry for independence.