PM defends her government’s approach against charge by Sir Ivan Rogers, the UK ambassador to the EU who quit last week

Theresa May has denied the government’s approach to Brexit is muddled and indicated she will prioritise control of the UK’s borders over access to the single market.

The prime minister said the UK would be able to secure control over immigration after it left the EU and would then negotiate “the best possible trade deal” with the rest of Europe.

In her first broadcast interview of the new year, May said: “Often people talk in terms as if somehow we are leaving the EU but we still want to kind of keep bits of membership of the EU. We are leaving. We are coming out. We are not going to be a member of the EU any longer.”

Last week, the UK’s ambassador to the European Union, Sir Ivan Rogers, quit his post, urging his fellow British civil servants in Brussels to assert their independence by challenging “ill-founded arguments and muddled thinking”.



However, during an interview on Sky News, May rejected Rogers’ description of the government’s approach.

“Our thinking on this is not muddled at all,” she said. “Yes we have been taking our time … It was important for us to take our time and look at the issues.”

EU leaders have repeatedly said that the UK cannot have full access to the single market without agreeing to free movement of people.

Asked repeatedly whether she was prepared to sacrifice full access to the single market for control of the UK’s borders, May said it was not a “binary choice”.

“The question is what is the right relationship for the UK to have with the European Union when we are outside. We will be able to have control of our borders, control of our laws.

“This is what people were voting for on 23 June. But of course we still want the best possible deal for us, companies to be able to trade, UK companies to be able to trade in and operate within the European Union, and also European companies to be able to trade with the UK and operate within the UK.”