AP, London :
British Prime Minister Theresa May says European Union nationals who come to the country during the transition period after the country leaves the bloc should not have the same rights to remain as those who come earlier.
Speaking to reporters on a trip to China, May said she will fight proposals to give EU nationals full residency rights if they arrive after Britain leaves the bloc in March 2019. Officials in Brussels have said Britain must guarantee the rights of EU citizens if it wants free access to the European single market during the transition.
May said, “I’m clear there’s a difference between those people who came prior to us leaving and those who will come when they know the U.K. is no longer a member of the EU.”
Meanwhile, British Trade Minister Liam Fox on Thursday urged lawmakers to take a different view of Prime Minister Theresa May, seeking to play up her international achievements and calm growing criticism of her leadership.
May, the leader of a fragile minority government, is under intense pressure from rival factions within her Conservative Party over her approach to Brexit and perceived weaknesses in her broader leadership of the country.
The speculation has reached fever pitch in recent days, with the number of lawmakers formally calling for her to go reportedly nearing the threshold to trigger a leadership contest. The official number is not disclosed by the party.
But Fox, speaking during a trade visit to China with May, called on party colleagues to stop obsessing about domestic politics and take note of how she is viewed by leaders overseas.
“They look at the Prime Minister in a different way than some of, let’s say, the internal tea room discussions in the UK do,” he told the BBC, referring to the private tea rooms in parliament historically used by lawmakers to plot and gossip.
“I do wish more of my party colleagues have seen the sort of leadership and commitment and positive agenda that’s been projected for Britain here in China,” Fox said in a separate interview with ITN.
British Prime Minister Theresa May says European Union nationals who come to the country during the transition period after the country leaves the bloc should not have the same rights to remain as those who come earlier.
Speaking to reporters on a trip to China, May said she will fight proposals to give EU nationals full residency rights if they arrive after Britain leaves the bloc in March 2019. Officials in Brussels have said Britain must guarantee the rights of EU citizens if it wants free access to the European single market during the transition.
May said, “I’m clear there’s a difference between those people who came prior to us leaving and those who will come when they know the U.K. is no longer a member of the EU.”
Meanwhile, British Trade Minister Liam Fox on Thursday urged lawmakers to take a different view of Prime Minister Theresa May, seeking to play up her international achievements and calm growing criticism of her leadership.
May, the leader of a fragile minority government, is under intense pressure from rival factions within her Conservative Party over her approach to Brexit and perceived weaknesses in her broader leadership of the country.
The speculation has reached fever pitch in recent days, with the number of lawmakers formally calling for her to go reportedly nearing the threshold to trigger a leadership contest. The official number is not disclosed by the party.
But Fox, speaking during a trade visit to China with May, called on party colleagues to stop obsessing about domestic politics and take note of how she is viewed by leaders overseas.
“They look at the Prime Minister in a different way than some of, let’s say, the internal tea room discussions in the UK do,” he told the BBC, referring to the private tea rooms in parliament historically used by lawmakers to plot and gossip.
“I do wish more of my party colleagues have seen the sort of leadership and commitment and positive agenda that’s been projected for Britain here in China,” Fox said in a separate interview with ITN.
