WEB DESK
WEB DESK
British Prime Minister Theresa May on Monday won support from big business for her draft Brexit deal ahead of intense negotiations with Brussels in the coming week.
Ms May told the Confederation of British Industry, the UK’s main business lobby group, that she is determined to deliver her Brexit deal as she prepares for Sunday’s European Council summit to sign Britain’s divorce papers.
The embattled premier, whose cabinet grudgingly approved her EU divorce draft last week, faces an uphill challenge to pass her deal through a sceptical parliament.
Addressing the issue of immigration, a concern for many businesses who fear they will face skills gaps after Brexit, Ms May promised to introduce more streamlined application processes that will attract the brightest and the best from around the world.
May has pledged to fight on, warning that toppling her risks delaying Britain’s exit from the EU, or leaving without a deal, a step that could thrust the world’s fifth largest economy into the unknown.
Even if she stays in place, the level of opposition from eurosceptics in her own Conservative ranks has made clear how hard it will be to get the deal through parliament.
“We have in view a deal that will work for the UK and, let no one be in any doubt, I am determined to deliver it,” May said in a speech to Britain’s premier business lobby, the CBI, to loud applause. “We are not talking about political theory but the reality of people’s lives and livelihoods.
“While the world is changing fast, our geography is not: Europe will always be our most proximate goods market, and ensuring we have free-flowing borders is crucial,” May said, citing the importance of the automotive industry in particular.