Businesses press May for ‘hard Brexit’ answers

Business groups and opposition parties pressed Theresa May for more detail after the British Prime Minister hinted she favoured a so-called hard Brexit. Such a move would entail leaving the EU and the single market entirely in exchange for curbs on freedom of movement between the UK and member states. “I know some people ask about the ‘trade-off’ between controlling immigration and trading with Europe. But that is the wrong way of looking at things,” May told delegates at this year’s Conservative Party Conference. But Carolyn Fairbairn, Director-General of the Confederation of British Industry, said in a statement that firms remained “in the dark” about issues of key importance. She said: “The government’s desire to play its negotiating cards close to its chest must be tempered by clear indications on how we will trade with the UK’s most important partner and how firms will be able to employ the people needed to drive growth.”