OUTGOING US President Barack Obama yesterday warned PM May that Britain was wrong to vote to leave the EU and suggested it is still at the ‘back of the queue’ for a new trade deal.
He made clear that the TTIP trade deal being hammered out with the EU would remain the US’s priority, even though the talks appear to have ground to a halt. At a joint press conference with Theresa May before the G20 in China, Obama said: ‘It is absolutely true that I believed pre-Brexit vote and continue to believe post-Brexit vote that the world benefited enormously from the United Kingdom’s participation in the EU.
‘We are fully supportive of a process that is as little disruptive as possible so that people around the world can continue to benefit from economic growth. What I have committed to Theresa is that we will consult closely with her as she and her government move forward with Brexit negotiations to ensure that we don’t see adverse effects in trade and commercial relationships.’
Earlier, speaking on the flight to Hangzhou, May said: ‘There will be some difficult times ahead. We will be looking ahead to the autumn statement. So in terms of how we are going to position things, the detail will be coming out then. What I’m clear about is I am going to continue as we have done in government over the last six years ensuring we are going to live within our means.’
In a pre-recorded interview with the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, May said formal EU talks will not begin until 2017, but vowed the process would not be ‘kicked into the long grass’. She said after the Brexit vote: ‘We have had some good figures and better figures than some had predicted would be the case. I’m not going to pretend that it’s all going to be plain sailing.’
She also ruled out a snap election, saying the UK needs ‘stability’. China’s President Xi Jinping has urged G20 leaders to avoid ‘empty talk’ as they look to quicken economic growth. He said on Saturday: ‘Against risks and challenges facing the world economy, the international community has high expectations of the G20 in the Hangzhou summit.’
