British politicians Jeremy Corbyn and Nigel Farage criticised Prime Minister Theresa May’s plans for a Brexit transition following her speech to EU leaders in Florence.
May set out a plan on Friday to retain full access to the EU’s single market for two years after Brexit, to try to reassure businesses and reset the tone of stalled negotiations with Brussels.
Opposition Leader Jeremy Corbyn said the speech suggested May had listened to his Labour party and its recommendation that the UK needs a transition on the same basic terms to provide stability for businesses and workers.
“She has had 15 months to think about that and she goes all the way to Florence and we didn’t even get the chance to see Florence in the background to tell us what we already know,” Corbyn said.
Corbyn said this may have been a result of negotiations with her own divided party rather than discussions with the EU.
Meanwhile, Britain’s most vocal Brexit supporter Nigel Farage called May’s speech “pathetic” and told Sky News her vision “is that we leave the European Union but we do so in name only”.
“This is part of a great Brexit betrayal. We didn’t vote to waste years of our lives. We didn’t vote for open borders to continue. We didn’t vote to give away billions of pounds every year. We voted to be independent, free and to open ourselves up to the rest of the world, and I do view today as being a big kick in the teeth for all of us that voted Brexit,” he said.