British Prime Minister Theresa May has at last delivered a speech outlining the UK government’s plans for Brexit.<br /><br /> After months of speculation, and a battle in the country’s supreme court, Mrs May has said that the final deal for Britain’s exit from the European Union will be put to a vote in parliament.<br /><br /> However, the leader put an end to speculation that London would seek a ‘soft Brexit’ by announcing that the UK will leave the EU’s single market.<br /><br /> As the it prepares to disentangle itself from the EU, Mrs May said the country would try to avoid a “disruptive cliff edge” and that she envisaged a mutually beneficial deal for all involved.<br /><br /> Speaking about immigration, which was arguably the currency of the Brexit debate, Mrs May said: “Britain is an open and tolerant country. We will always want immigration, especially high-skilled immigration, we will always want immigration from Europe. And we will always welcome individual migrants as friends.”<br /><br /> However, she said that the British public had spoken, and that “Brexit must mean control of the number of people who come to Britain from Europe.”<br /><br /> “That is what we will deliver,” she continued.<br /><br /> “We want to guarantee the rights of EU citizens who are already living in Britain and the rights of British nationals in other member states as early as we can.”<br /><br /> However, Mrs May put to bed the notion that Britain could achieve a ‘soft Brexit’ by remaining in the EU single market – something which has been at the forefront of the Brexit debate.<br /><br /> Addressing Britain’s trade relations with EU members, she said: “I want Britain to be able to negotiate its own trade agreements but I also want tariff free trade with Europe and cross border trade there to be as frictionless as possible.” <br /><br /> “But I want to be clear. What I am proposing cannot mean membership of the single market.”<br /><br /> She did say, however, that not managing to negotiate a deal with the EU would be preferable to concluding negotiations with a bad deal for Britain.<br /><br /> She warned leaders of the 27 other member states that trying to punish Britons for voting to leave “would not be the act of a friend.”<br /><br /> “We will seek to avoid a disruptive cliff edge and we will do everything we can to phase in the new arrangements we require as Britain and the EU move towards our new partnership,” she said. <br /><br /> “I know there are some voices calling for a punitive deal that punishes Britain and discourages other countries from taking the same path. That would be an act of calamitous self-harm for the countries of Europe and it would not be the act of a friend.”<br />
