Theresa May has told Sky News her Government is not suffering from "muddled thinking" over Brexit.

The Prime Minister was responding to criticism from Sir Ivan Rogers, who resigned as Britain's ambassador to the EU.

In her first TV interview of the year, Mrs May said she will set out her plans for Brexit over the coming weeks but has given her strongest hint yet that the UK will leave the single market.

Speaking to Sky's Sophy Ridge, the Prime Minister said: "I'm ambitious for what we can get for the UK in terms of our relationship with the European Union because I also think that's going to be good for the European Union.

May: 'We're leaving, we're coming out, we're not going to be a member of the EU.'

"Our thinking on this isn't muddled at all.


"Yes, we have been taking time. I said we wouldn't trigger Article 50 immediately, some said we should."

Mrs May said, at the point when she became PM, no plans had been made in the event of a vote to leave the EU so it was important for the Government to first look at the complexity of the issues it faces.

Image: Mrs May denied there was any 'muddled thinking' on Brexit

And she reasserted that Article 50, the beginning of the formal process to leave the EU, will be triggered by the end of March this year.

:: As it happened: PM speaks to Sophy Ridge on Sunday

The PM told Sky's new Sunday morning politics show Sophy Ridge on Sunday she does not see the decision between trade and immigration during Brexit talks "as a binary issue".

"We will, outside the European Union, be able to have control of immigration and be able to set our rules for people coming to the UK from member states of the European Union," she said.

Brexit: How divided are we?

"We also, as part of that Brexit deal, will be working to get the best possible deal in the trading relationship with the European Union.

"Anybody who looks at this question of free movement and trade as a sort of zero-sum game is approaching it in the wrong way."

Mrs May added that she remains confident the UK will get a good deal on both issues but said that Britain could not hang on to "bits of EU membership".

Shadow Brexit Secretary Keir Starmer told Sky News the PM should have been clearer over her plans for Brexit.

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He said: "It was very telling I think that she had one question put to her three times and still didn't answer it, which is: 'Are you prioritising immigration over access to the single market'.

"I think now, 10-11 weeks from the triggering of Article 50 and the most important negotiations for a generation, we need more clarity than that and we haven't got it."

Earlier, First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon warned Mrs May that she is not "bluffing" on the promise of a second independence referendum if Scotland is neglected during Brexit talks.

"They will be making a big mistake if they think that I'm in any way bluffing," Ms Sturgeon told BBC's Andrew Marr.

May sets out her vision for a 'shared society'

"We voted to stay in the EU, we were told voting 'no' was the only way to stay in the EU and we now face being taken out of it. That creates a much more fundamental question for Scotland."

Leading leavers have welcomed the Prime Minister's comments which some are interpreting as meaning that the country is heading for what they call a clean Brexit.

Tory MP Steve Baker said: "This is welcome clarification of a sensible position by the PM. We won't be clinging on to bits of EU membership.

"The best outcome for the UK is an ambitious trade deal plus control over our laws, trade policy and borders. The PM's interview is great news for the UK."

So, PM is putting party before country - that's no way to kick off a 'shared society' #Brexit #Ridge — Nick Clegg (@nick_clegg) January 8, 2017

But Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said the Prime Minister's comments suggest she is taking us towards what he calls "a disastrous hard Brexit".

He said: "Reckless plans to leave the single market would deal a huge blow to jobs, investment and the public finances, meaning less funding for services like the overstretched NHS.

"In all this she has Labour holding her hand on the path to Brexit and failing to provide a decent opposition."

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