Theresa May will tell Parliament on Monday about “new sense of optimism” surrounding the Brexit process.
Following Friday’s agreement with the EU over the first phase of negotiations, the Prime Minister will tell MPs that the UK and the EU must “to move forward together” to discuss future trade ties.
She will use her statement to re-iterate that Brexit is “not about hard Brexit or soft Brexit”, but to ensure the best deal for all parties.
“I believe there is a new sense of optimism now in the talks and I fully hope and expect that we will confirm the arrangements I have set out today in the European Council later this week,” May will say.
“In doing so we can move on to building the bold new economic and security relationships that can underpin the new deep and special partnership we all want to see – a partnership between the European Union and a sovereign United Kingdom that has taken control of its borders, money and laws once again.”
Following the deals made last week regarding the Irish border and EU citizens, some Conservative Brexiteers have suggested the Prime Minister is pursuing a soft Brexit.
May will tell MPs that “this is not about a hard or a soft Brexit. The arrangements we have agreed to reach the second phase of the talks are entirely consistent with the principles and objectives that I set out in my speeches in Florence and at Lancaster House.”
“I know that some doubted we would reach this stage. I have always been clear that this was never going to be an easy process.”
The Prime Minister plans to travel to Brussels on Thursday for a meeting with the leaders of the other EU states to approve an assessment that both sides have made “sufficient progress” to move on to the second phase of Brexit negotiations.