The British prime minister, Theresa May, has said that Brexit is not about either being in the single market or retaining border controls,

“I think it’s wrong to look at this as a binary issue; that either you have control of immigration or a good trade deal. I don’t see it as a binary issue,” May said in an interview with Sky News.

The UK will be able to control its own borders and will also try to get the best trade deal, without being part of the single market, she said.

“What I’m talking about is getting the right relationship for the UK with the EU. We mustn’t think of this as not wanting membership but that we want to keep certain bits of membership. What we will say is what is the right relationship for the United Kingdom which is no longer a member of the EU.”

She added that a large part of the deal will be related to trade. The UK wants the best possible deal for UK companies to trade and operate within the EU.

“The question is, what is the right deal for the UK? Not a model that somebody else uses, but for the UK,” May said. “I think sometimes people talk about leaving the EU, saying that we want to leave, but we also want to keep certain bits of membership of the EU. We’re leaving, we’re coming out, we’re not going to be a member of the EU any longer.”

Read more

Brexit adds urgency to search for new markets – Creed