May to set out UK 'tests' for Brexit deal

Prime Minister Theresa May will set out five "tests" for a future UK-EU deal and pledge to "bring our country together" in a major speech on Friday.

The "deepest possible" free trade deal is "achievable" because it is in both EU and UK interests, she will argue. But it must be an "enduring solution" that respects the referendum result, protects jobs and "strengthens our union of nations".


Donald Tusk warned that "friction" in trade was "inevitable" after Brexit. The European Council president told the prime minister in talks at Downing Street on Thursday: "There can be no frictionless trade outside of the customs union and the single market."

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Mrs May has ruled out continuing UK membership of the single market and customs union after Brexit and has rejected an EU plan to keep Northern Ireland in the EU customs area to avoid a hard border with the Republic of Ireland.

But Mr Tusk told her she needed to come up with "a better idea" that would be "as effective in preventing a hard border".

The UK is due to leave the EU on 29 March 2019 but it wants a transition period lasting around two years after that, intended to smooth the way to the future post-Brexit relationship between the UK and the EU.

The prime minister will give more details of what the UK wants for the future relationship in a keynote address in London.