Theresa May: No 'Running Commentary' On Brexit Negotiations

The Prime Minister tells MPs the Government will not "reveal our hand prematurely" or comment on "every twist and turn".

PM: No Running Commentary On Brexit Negotiations

Theresa May insisted she would not give a "running commentary" on Brexit negotiations, as she refused to say whether she wanted the UK to stay in the European single market.

The Prime Minister was repeatedly challenged to confirm whether Britain would remain a part of the single market once negotiations on leaving the European Union concluded.

But Mrs May gave little away at her first Prime Minister's Questions since Parliament returned from the summer recess.

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While the PM said she wanted control over the movement of people from the EU to the UK and the "right deal" for trade, Mrs May told MPs the Government would not "reveal our hand prematurely" or comment on "every twist and turn".

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It comes after the PM distanced herself from Brexit Secretary David Davis' suggestion it was "very improbable" the UK can regain control over its own borders while staying in the single market.

The apparent rebuke sparked concerns ministers are "confused" and cannot agree policy on leaving the EU.

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Mrs May was challenged by the Scottish National Party's Westminster leader Angus Robertson to say whether she wanted the UK to stay in the single market.

Mr Robertson claimed that so far the Government had only come up with "waffle" about the post-Brexit plan.

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Mrs May said: "What I want for the UK is that we put into practice the vote that was taken by the people of the UK to leave the EU, that we get the right deal for the trade in goods and services with the EU in a new relationship that we will be building with them and that we also introduce control of the movement of people from the European Union into the UK."

Mrs May insisted that "we are respecting the views of the British people" rather than attempting to row back from Brexit.

She added: "We will be seizing the opportunities that leaving the EU now gives us to forge a new role for the UK in the world".

Mr Robertson repeated his challenge to the PM to give an "in or an out answer" to the question.

Mrs May told him: "In looking at negotiations it would not be right for me or this Government to give a running commentary on negotiations."

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She added: "It would not be right for us to prejudge those negotiations.

"We will be ensuring that we seize the opportunities for growth and prosperity across the whole UK, including growth and prosperity in Scotland."

Jeremy Corbyn accused the Government of issuing "contradictory messages" on Brexit which were exacerbating "huge uncertainty" about the UK's future.

The PM was pursuing a "free trade dogma" rather than a trade policy which would protect people and jobs, the Labour leader told MPs.

A senior Corbyn aide later said he was in favour of negotiating full UK access to the single market, but would not accept a package including requirements on deregulation and privatisation, which he regarded as damaging to working people and public services.

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