Nigel Farage, the former Ukip leader, has told Sky News that May’s announcement means the UK will not be signing any trade deals until 2022. It means Britain is not open for business, he says.
Wasn't the slogan for the creation of the single market in 1992 'Europe will be open for business'?
How we meet the challenge of the Single Market will be a major factor, possibly the major factor, in our competitive position in European and world markets into the twenty-first century. Getting it right needs a partnership between government and business.
The task of government is two-fold: —to negotiate in Brussels so as to get the possible results for Britain; —and then to make you the business community aware of the opportunities, so that you can make the most of them.
It's your job, the job of business, to gear yourselves up to take the opportunities which a single market of nearly 320 million people will offer.
Just think for a moment what a prospect that is. A single market without barriers—visible or invisible—giving you direct and unhindered access to the purchasing power of over 300 million of the world's wealthiest and most prosperous people.
Margaret Thatcher, Lancaster House Speech, April 1988