May has taken back control

‘No negotiation without notification’ has been the EU’s mantra since 24 June last year. Its leaders have been determined that there’ll be no talks before Britain has formally submitted its Article 50 letter, starting the two-year countdown to this country leaving the union. Even now, after Theresa May has set out her Brexit plans with a decent amount of detail, the EU is sticking to this line. Why? Because it wants Britain to be negotiating against the clock.

Despite this, there have been informal conversations over the past six months that have helped forge the Brexit strategy that May set out on Tuesday. EU leaders’ insistence that they won’t compromise on the ‘four freedoms’ means that the government has decided against any cute attempts to reconcile single-market membership with an interpretation of the free movement rules stringent enough to satisfy British voters.

James Forsyth and Liam Halligan join Isabel Hardman to discuss Theresa May’s Brexit plans:

This is sensible. Britain’s desire for greater control of immigration was never going to be compatible with the EU’s — particularly the European Court of Justice’s — understanding of free movement. Trying to square this circle would have simply taken up valuable negotiating time to no good end.

The government’s emphasis on Britain’s security contribution in these negotiations is another product of these conversations. Theresa May first met President François Hollande days after the Nice attack. At dinner, conversation was initially about how Britain might help France in dealing with the terrorist threat. It then turned to the EU. But, as one of those present recalls, the second discussion was far more civil and constructive than it would have been without the first one. You can hardly ask for someone’s help in fighting terrorism then tell them that you want to destroy their economy.