Theresa May to reaffirm impossibility of Brexit reversal

Theresa May will tell European Union leaders today there is no possibility that Brexit will be reversed in a second referendum and will urge them to work with her to make Britain's departure work for both sides.

Ms May will use her debut as prime minister at the European Council in Brussels to scotch what Downing Street believes may be lingering hopes in some EU member states that Brexit may never happen.

European Council president Donald Tusk suggested last week that Britain might not leave the EU at all rather than accepting a "hard Brexit" outside the single market and the EU customs union.

“She’ll say that the British people have made their decision and it is right and proper that that decision should be honoured,” a Downing Street source said.

“She’ll be very clear, there’ll be no second referendum. The priority now has got to be to look to the future and the relationship between the UK and the EU, both as an organisation but also the member states of the EU once we leave.”

Dinner

Ms May will have an opportunity to speak about Brexit over dinner with other leaders this evening and she will seek to reassure them that Britain's departure need not be damaging to the rest of the EU. She will repeat the message she has given leaders in bilateral meetings that Britain will not turn its back on Europe when it leaves the EU.

“I expect the prime minister to set out that her aim is to deliver the UK’s departure in the best possible way and by that thinking not just about the best possible outcome for the UK but how we can make it work for the EU too. And she wants the outcome at the end of this process to be a strong Britain as a partner for a strong European Union,” the source said.

The prime minister said earlier this month that she would trigger two years of formal exit talks under article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty before the end of March next year. She will tell EU leaders this evening that Britain will continue to be an “active and engaged” member state until it leaves.

Briefing

Yesterday, chancellor of the exchequer Philip Hammond suggested that other cabinet ministers have been briefing the media against him in an effort to push the government towards seeking a "hard Brexit", prioritising controlling immigration over access to the single market.

“The best way to support this Brexit process and to get the right Brexit for Britain is to give the prime minister the maximum space for negotiation. Those that are undermining the effort are those seeking to undermine this negotiating space, who are seeking to arrive at a hard decision,” he told the House of Commons treasury select committee.

Amid reports of tensions over Brexit within the cabinet, the prime minister’s spokeswoman this week insisted that Ms May has full confidence in the chancellor. Treasury sources dismissed reports that Mr Hammond was on the brink of resigning over demands for tough controls on immigration and he told MPs yesterday that any move to reduce immigration must take into account the likely economic impact.

“As we approach the challenge of getting net migration figures down to the tens of thousands, it is, in my view, essential that we look at how we do this in a way that protects our economy and protects the vital interests of our economy,” he said.