Theresa May’s Brexit gamble

British Prime Minister Theresa May made UK stance about Brexit clear in her 40-minute speech. It has been heralded as a forwarding looking by some, and condemned by many others. She said that Britain would leave the EU single market of some 500 million people, but seek the greatest possible access to it through a new, comprehensive, bold and ambitious free trade agreement.
May remarked UK wants to disentangle itself from EU governance and stop paying millions into its coffers, adding at the same time that the country still remain friends, allies and tariff-free trading partners with the soon-to-be 27 nation bloc.
“We want to buy your goods and services, sell you ours, trade with you as freely as possible, and work with one another to make sure we are all safer, more secure and more prosperous through continued friendship,” May said in her speech.
Pro-Brexit British politicians lauded May’s speech; others hold her vision akin to a divorcing couple who hope to remain best friends, share the kids and keep each other’s front door keys.
British prime minister made it clear that there would be no attempt to cling to bits of EU membership. Brexit will bring an end to the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice in Britain. It also will keep tab on the number of people coming to Britain from EU nations, abandoning the bloc’s principle of free movement.
But there are many challenges lying ahead. Britain is quitting the single market in order to gain control over immigration. But EU leaders have emphatically said that Britain can’t stay in the single market without allowing the free movement of people from the bloc into Britain. This will be a blow to financial services sector, which relies on an ability to do business seamlessly across the 28-nation bloc. But businesses have welcomed the fact that the haze of uncertainty has been lifted. The greater clarity and the ambition to create a global Britain have drawn mixed reactions.
It will be an uphill task to steer EU towards a free trade deal on the terms and conditions that British PM has in mind. May said a punitive divorce settlement would not be the act of a friend.
What would be May’s strategy if the deal cannot be reached is not fully clear. She has only talked about action to radically cut business taxes and attract the best and biggest businesses away from Europe to the UK. She also implied that the current joint working on security, intelligence and military collaboration could stop—an outcome that May suspects would hurt Europe more than the UK.
The ultimate verdict on May’s strategy potentially remains years away. Only when the final details of any new UK-EU trade agreement are clear, will it be possible to evaluate the prime minister’s approach. Everything now depends on how EU reacts.
May plans to trigger the starting gun for exit talks by March 31.The divorce deal will be completed within two years, but implementation will be phased in over a transitional period to avoid a cliff-edge for business or a threat to stability. Now the question is whether May’s game of hard ball will give her the desired result.