Theresa May’s ‘hard Brexit’ approach could ‘rip Britain apart’, warns Sadiq Khan
London Mayor said keeping access to single market is 'critical' for the UK's capital and its businesses
THE HARD Brexit approach as outlined by Theresa May in her landmark speech could "rip Britain apart", Sadiq Khan has warned.
The London Mayor said that privileged access to the European single market, which the Prime Minster has pledged to end, is "critical" for the UK's capital.
He is urging business leaders to make the case to ministers that Mrs May’s 12-point plan, outlined in her Lancaster House address, would be bad for their companies.
Describing an EU exit in which the UK leaves both the single market and customs union as a "lose-lose situation" for Britain and Europe, Mr Khan warned today's politicians will have to answer to future generations if they put their prosperity and their place in the world "in such peril".
Speaking to an audience of business leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, he was due to say: "Securing privileged access to the single market must be the top priority for the negotiations.
“It's critical for London. Nothing else will do. It can't be brushed aside - as it was yesterday."
RELATED STORIES:
Responding to Mrs May's speech, the Mayor warned: "A hard-line approach to Brexit may hold the Conservative Party together, but it could rip Britain apart.
"And if we continue on this path - towards a hard Brexit - we risk having to explain to future generations why we knowingly put their economy, their prosperity and their place on the world stage, in such peril."
But Mr Khan will say that he is "confident" London will remain "Europe's leading business hub" after EU withdrawal and that the city will continue to be "the cultural, social and economic capital of Europe".
And he will warn that the EU risks further withdrawals unless it addressed the widespread "unease" in several countries over the changes to ordinary people's lives in recent decades.
Economic and social divides were "not unique to Britain" and will spread further in the absence of a "concerted response" from European leaders, he said.
And he warned: "If many of your countries held an EU referendum tomorrow, it could go the same way as ours. This is an existential threat to the EU - that we must combat together.”