17/01/2017 BBC News at Ten

Tonight at Ten, the Prime Minister spells out her strategic goals

for taking Britain out of the European Union.

In a long-awaited speech, Mrs May says Britain will leave

the single market, seek new trade agreements and control immigration.

While I am sure a positive agreement can be reached,

I am equally clear that no deal for Britain is better

Parliament will get a vote on the final Brexit deal.

Labour says Mrs May's approach involves enormous dangers.

If all her optimism of a deal with the European Union didn't work,

we would move into a low tax corporate taxation,

And an equally unenthusiastic response at the European Parliament

It creates an illusion, the illusion that you can go out

of the single market, that you can go out of the customs

union and that you can cherry-pick, that you can

In Scotland, where voters backed Remain, the First Minister said

a second independence referendum was still on the cards.

I am not prepared for Scotland to be taken down a path that I firmly

We will have detail and reaction and be asking business

The rising price of fuel and food is a factor in driving inflation

to the highest level in two-and-a-half years.

And, Sir Simon Rattle talks to us about his plans

The Prime Minister has set out her vision for Britain's place

in the world after it leaves the European Union.

The vision rested on 12 objectives and Theresa May declared that no

deal would be better than a bad deal.

The main announcement today was that the UK would be leaving

the European single market with the aim of negotiating a free

The Prime Minister said this would deliver control over

And she said the final Brexit deal would be subject to a vote by both

Tonight we'll have the detail and the reaction and we start

with our political editor Laura Kuenssberg.

Good morning. What's the plan?

On our way out, not just out of the European Union...

Theresa May gathered ministers and ambassadors too.

To confirm finally, we will leave behind

the way the country has made its living for decades.

As a priority, we will pursue a bold and ambitious free trade agreement

This agreement should allow for the freest possible trade

in goods and services between Britain and

It should give British companies the maximum freedom to trade

with and operate within European markets, and let European businesses

But I want to be clear - what I am proposing cannot mean

Privately, ministers had talked of preserving some parts

of the special club, the market of hundreds of millions

where our businesses can buy and sell without barriers.

Remainers had pushed her, but she believes it can't be done,

because the rules of the single market come with unlimited

The message from the public, before and during the referendum

campaign, was clear - Brexit must mean control

of the number of people who come to Britain from Europe,

Our customs arrangements, how we trade over borders,

will change too, but no final decision on how.

Her clear hope, though, is that the UK will not pay billions

There may be some specific programmes in which we might

If so, and this will be for us to decide, it is reasonable

we should make an appropriate contribution, but the principle

is clear: The days of Britain making vast contributions to the EU every

27 other countries will decide if her plans are an ambitious

Yet most dramatically, if after two years of talks negotiations stall,

she and her team are willing to walk away.

Britain wants to remain a good friend and neighbour to Europe,

yet I know there are some voices calling for a punitive deal that

punishes Britain and discourages other countries from taking

Britain would not, indeed, we could not,

While I am confident that this scenario need never arise,

while I am sure a positive agreement can be reached, I am equally clear

that no deal for Britain is better than a bad deal for Britain.

But remember, the Prime Minister never wanted to leave.

During the referendum campaign, you said plainly that you believed

if we left the EU and the single market, the country,

its families and citizens, would be worse off.

Now, either you have changed your mind, or,

as Prime Minister, you have made a decision that you believe

will leave the country and its citizens poorer -

All the economic indicators have been more positive

It is only earlier this week that the IMF confirmed

we were the fastest growing economy last year.

And what I am talking about today is the country coming together

and looking for that brighter future as a global Britain.

Did the Brexit backers in the Cabinet get the upper hand?

It was an excellent speech, it was optimistic, confident,

and it set out our responsibilities in a global context.

This wasn't an inward looking, purely European speech.

It is negotiable, this is something that I think will be good for the UK

Why should they allow us to have our cake and eat it?

As the Prime Minister said, it will be good for both sides.

Do you think what she set out is achievable?

Not exactly nodding along, either, the other parties across the UK.

The political consequences of Theresa May's choices are unclear.

I think we have to have a deal that ensures we have

access to the market, that we have British jobs

dependent on that market, that is what we will be pushing for.

Whether it is specifically this form of single market, I don't know.

She seems to want to have her cake and eat it.

To wave the white flag across the Cliffs of Dover,

as Theresa May has done, and give up on what's best

for Britian is an insult and damaging to Britain's future

And don't doubt, a UK outside the single market brings

the chance for Scottish voters to choose independence closer.

I will not allow Scotland's interests to be steam rollered

Do we want to be taken down a path that we didn't vote

for and is against all of our interests or do we want to take

And that is a choice that I think Scotland has the right to make.

Parliament was told today they will get a vote on the final

deal but it is plain the Prime Minister believes

the country has delivered a clear verdict and she has made her mind

Her dilemmas now are persuading a continent what she wants

is possible and those who voted to stay in the EU that

But this is really only the start of a long process.

Concern and criticism won't fade away.

The scale of what we decided, how it will change our country

and all our lives is still fully to emerge.

Laura Kuenssberg, BBC News, Westminster.

As we've heard, one of the Prime Minister's most

significant announcements was the plan to leave the European

single market of around 500 million consumers and the plan to leave

the EU customs union, the system which allows goods

to move between countries without attracting tariffs.

Our correspondent James Landale is here with his analysis

of what that could mean for trade in future.

The single market is the beating heart of the European Union,

the trading arrangement that binds the economic club together.

Every EU country is a full member of the club.

Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland are partial members.

And they all believe that if they get rid of barriers

to trade and allow goods, services, money and workers to move

freely across their borders, then their economies will grow.

To make this happen, they agree common trading rules,

so a widget made in Greece is the same as a widget

And they set up a European Court of Justice to make sure

Supporters say the single market helps British companies flourish,

like this engineering firm in Bristol by making it

easier for them to export their goods and employ people

I think there's an obvious risk for us outside of the single market,

I think any change in the customs regime is probably going

But opponents say the single market imposes unnecessary red

tape on British firms, like this nappy manufacturer

It gives too much power to EU judges and allows in

The owner of this firm says the opportunities

I think, primarily, we can't remain part of the single market

because we want to go out and do our trade deals

with countries outside the EU and that's very exciting

So to help make that happen, Theresa May wants Britain to have

instead the greatest possible access to the single market,

particularly for British cars, lorries and financial services

and to get that, by negotiating a new free trade deal with the EU.

And what about the so-called customs union that Mrs May referred to?

This is the arrangement under which European governments impose no

tariffs or import taxes on goods traded within the EU but they do

agree to charge the same tariffs on goods being imported into any

Now the Prime Minister said she didn't want Britain to be

She wants Britain instead to be able to set its own tariffs

and negotiate its own trade deals with the rest of the world.

She said she would accept some kind of customs arrangement with the EU

And if there is no deal, British firms could end up paying

So this is what the Prime Minister wants.

All she has to do now is get the rest of the EU to agree

I have just skated over the surface of what are some

You can read a lot more in detail on the BBC news website and the BBC

reality check's assessment of how any deal might work.

Business leaders are still divided on the implications of Brexit

but most of them today seemed to welcome some new clarity

from the Prime Minister on the Government's goals.

Theresa May promised that changes to immigration,

customs and regulation would be phased in, to avoid disruption.

Some of Britain's most prominent business leaders

are at World Economic Forum in Davos, in Switzerland.

Our business correspondent Simon Jack has been

There's nothing like a bit of mountain air to give you clarity.

Business leaders gathered here in Switzerland were watching

the Prime Minister today for exactly that.

I think what we learn from the Prime Minister's speech

today was clarity first of all, really codified what many of us

had been anticipating since the referendum result,

particularly around the single market.

I think what we've also seen today is the government's willingness

to put a bit of edge into the negotiating

dynamic, and I think that makes a lot of sense.

Trade negotiations are negotiations, and you have to lay out and you have

to be pretty tough to get what you want.

For some the uncertainty is still too great.

Lloyd's of London, the insurance market, has a ready decided to move

We've still got to pursue a subsidiary in the EU

for post-Brexit world, meaning that we can still serve our

customers and policyholders in those European Union countries.

So, no ifs, no buts, no single market.

And with the continuing question mark over whether we are a partial

member of the customs union, many will say it takes

a continent to build a car and if there are hold-ups

at the border that could be bad news.

And the car industry gave MPs its version of clarity

on the consequences of not getting a good trade deal.

The cars that we import, and remember we import about 80%

of the vehicles we sell in the UK, that would add about ?2.7 billion,

Financial markets were watching closely, too.

Suddenly the pound rocketed against the dollar at the very

moment the Prime Minister offered MPs a chance to vote

Markets making one last bet that Brexit could still be derailed.

Even some of the business world staunchest Remainers weren't fooled

and are now resigned to knuckling down to the political reality.

Most businesses are trying to move forward positively,

and accepting the result of the referendum.

Trying to make sure the complexity of this is well understood

and we take the steps both in government and business to deal

with this and minimise the impacts of this very compact process.

The government shed some light on its priority, but business knows

we are still in the foothills of a massive undertaking.

The main Brexit negotiator for the European Parliament,

Guy Verhofstadt, has warned that it's an illusion

to think Britain will be allowed to keep the advantages of trade

with the European Union without accepting the obligations.

Our correspondent Damian Grammaticas has been

assessing the reaction among members of the European

He wasn't commenting, but Jean-Claude Juncker,

listening to Theresa May - keen to hear her vision for Brexit.

The response from the European Parliament's chief negotiator -

It creates also an illusion that you can go out of

the single market, that you can go out of the customs

union and that you can cherry-pick and have

And, yeah, I think that will not happen.

The EU today was busy with its own affairs,

electing a new President of the European Parliament.

Many here are sceptical the UK can get all it wants in a

We will all love to have a Europe a la carte!

It is a ridiculous idea, but this is serious, we have a lot of

countries here, a lot of people and we have

and this is not, you know, a Europe a la carte.

Outside, an Italian school group on an EU tour.

Quitting the single market and shunning its

freedom of movement will - some believe - be a painful

Something - they say - Theresa May did not address.

I expect many businesses from the UK to move to Europe.

I expect also some financial companies providing services from

So there will be some significant losses.

Theresa May hasn't mentioned a word about these

potential costs and potential losses.

As for the threat Mrs May may walk away, choosing no deal if

she isn't satisfied - that hasn't gone down well, even

No deal will also be bad for the United Kingdom.

So it it isn't as if they hold all the cards.

The United Kingdom will look after its own interests.

And here today one MEP summed up reactions to me,

saying he thought Theresa May was overselling to the British people

both what she could achieve in trade deals with other countries

and how much access she would get to the single market.

Damian Grammaticas, BBC News, Strasbourg.

The Prime Minister claimed today that she wanted to act

in the interests of all parts of the UK and said the devolved

administrations should be fully engaged in the process of Brexit.

But how was that viewed in Glasgow, Cardiff and Belfast?

Let's start with our Scotland editor Sarah Smith.

Well Nicola Sturgeon responded to Theresa May's speech today by saying

she thinks it has increased the chances that there may be a second

referendum on Scottish independence. He said the UK was heading for a

hard Brexit that could be cat catastrophic. Last year Nicola

Sturgeon presented the Prime Minister with a paper outlining how

she believes Scotland could stay in the single market. But they would

need the consent of the UK Government and Nicola Sturgeon said

she doesn't believe Theresa May is taking that seriously. So that is

why she says although a majority in Scotland according to the opinion

polls don't favour independence, nonetheless she thinks the prospect

of a second vote is now more likely. Northern Ireland is the part of UK

most exposed to fallout from Brexit, because it shares a board we are the

Irish republic. Theresa May was quick to point out there would be no

return to the borders of past and said the common travel area would be

preserved. But questions remain and one key question is this - the UK

wants to limit and control immigration from the EU. But how

would that be possible if Ireland has an open border? And if the UK

steps outside the customs union, won't that lead to a hard board

border with customs posts. Wales voted to leave, but some concerns

today, particularly in areas like manufacturing and farming, still

very strong in Wales and reliant on the EU. The First Minister has a

problem, he has called for full access to the single market, today's

announcement won't make that any easier. He knows that and that is

why he has said he thinks are going in the wrong direction and there is

the question of politic leverage, if he complains too much, people in

Westminster will say they're delivering what the people in Wales

voted for which is Brexit. Thank you.

As we've heard, the Prime Minister acknowledged that last year's

referendum campaign had been divisive, but insisted that people

We sent our correspondent Jeremy Cooke to see how those

on different sides of the argument had responded to today's speech.

Boston, an ancient English town a changing landscape. On the bus,

plenty of support for the Prime Minister's speech. The Brexit vote

here was 75%. More than one in ten people here are EU migrants. We want

that cutting definitely. What effect has it had on town? This town? It's

killed it. Is it worth paying to come out of the single market to

control immigration? I think so yes. You have got to control it. At the

Boston bodies hub it is 60s dance work out. The project is largely

EU-funded, but most here voted Brexit. Many worried about levels of

immigration. It has got too much now. We may lose trade from Europe.

What do you think about that trade off? The trade off I think will be

worth it, because Britain's big enough to take care of itself. I

think Britain could cope. Your confident? Yes it is Great Britain

and Europe needs us. Outside the agricultural heartland and many

crops being prepared today will need migrant workers to pick and to

process. Within the industry we need labour and without it we will

starve. What would you say to Theresa May in terms of what you

need as an industry? I hope she will allow labour to be filled in the

farming industry. These works are essential? Yes. They are absolutely

essential. An hour's drive and we are on the the banks of the Trent.

Here they voted 57% to remain in the EU. At this cafe, a different view

of the speech. I voted remain. And I was quite surprised by the outcome

of the vote, but Theresa May has outlined what the country voted for,

which is Brexit. And I think we need clear leadership to make sure that

is what happens. S s. Not everyone is as relaxed. We don't realise how

bad it is. Do you think we are clearer about what Brexit means? No.

No I don't. Her message was the same - Brexit means Brexit. But we still

don't really know... What it means! For the Prime Minister then, Brexit

remains the greatest of political challenges. In this still divided

nation. Our political editor

Laura Kuenssberg is at Westminster. More clarity on the goals, but

surely all of these are still just aspirations until the talks take

place? Yes, we didn't get chapter and verse on what our new

immigration system will look like outside the EU. Theresa May said she

still had an open mind over how we deal with customs and trade over the

borders. So there is a lot still to be decided and argued over over a

process that will take years, not months. But the bold, brush strokes

were there, explicitly for the first time. And it is a reminder to those

who see Theresa May as being caution and mistake that for being meek. But

the real rub is whether or not she is being hopelessly optimistic. Is

this all a delusion, or is she being clear ahead of a complicated dip low

mattedic dance -- diplomatic dance. But that will be a process of

negotiation with 27 other countries. We are outnumbered in the

negotiations and there is scepticism around the continent over whether

what she has promised is remotely achievable and it is a process of

negotiation, slow negotiation, that will come to that judgmentment and

David Cameron was forced to go after a European negotiation that went

wrong for him. Not long ago he quit just on that spot there. Although so

much has happened since then, it is only about six months ago, the

memory of that somehow hangs heavy in this street tonight. Thank you.

Let's turn some of the day's other news.

The annual rate of inflation - measured by the Consumer Prices

Index - rose more than expected in December to its highest level

driven in part by the fall in the value of sterling

after the Brexit vote, as well a rise in air fares

Our Economics Correspondent Andrew Verity has been

This haulier based near Heathrow Airport is facing sharply

Fuel had been falling in price, but on today's inflation

The company can absorb that cost but not forever.

If the cost of the fuel starts to bite, eventually we will

have to put a fuel surcharge in like everybody else in this

industry once we go past a certain level, because

we cannot afford to keep those costs in house.

The effect of the weaker pound is most obvious up the supply

chain, where raw materials, most of them imported,

So far producers haven't been passing most of that on, with

Only now is that starting to feed through to shop prices, up 1.6%.

The bigger move from the sterling effect

is still to come, because contracts have to be renewed, that is where we

think inflation moves up much further from the 1.6% we have seen

Today, the weak pound started to hit smart phone

users where it really hurts - in the apps.

Apple announced it was raising the cost of apps costing 79

From Apple's point of view, what money it makes here in pounds

has to be translated back into dollars and

right now that means it is getting fewer dollars than it did, so it has

Food prices are still lower than they

were a year ago and competition between retailers is preventing

them from raising the prices of most goods.

But the upward pressure on costs is likely do build.

Expect higher inflation in the months to come.

A brief look at some of the day's other other news stories.

President Obama has commuted the sentence of Chelsea Manning,

who was found guilty of leaking US army documents and is serving

The White House says Chelsea Manning - who served as a soldier in Iraq

and was formerly known as Bradley Manning -

The Supreme Court has cleared the way for a Libyan man

to take legal action against the Government,

Abdel-Hakim Belhaj says MI6 provided information that enabled the US

to abduct him and his wife in Asia and their rendition to Tripoli.

Mr Belhaj intends to sue the former Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw,

who was responsible for MI6 at the time.

Concerns about security at a Tunisian resort where 30

Britons were killed by an Islamist gunman were raised months before

The inquest has heard that a report in January 2015 for the UK

Government suggested there was a low standard of protection at some hotel

President Putin has dismissed allegations that Russia had gathered

compromising material on US president-elect Donald Trump

The Russian President said the leaked information,

which appeared last week in the US media, was obviously fake.

One of Donald Trump's closest advisers has told the BBC

that the United States would win any trade war with China.

Anthony Scaramucci has warned that retaliation over tariffs will hurt

China's President spoke today about the benefits

of globalisation, saying protectionism was 'like

The speech was delivered at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

our economics editor Kamal Ahmed is there.

With those remarks, do you think the prospect comes closer of some kind

of trade war between China and the United States? Well, the president

of China made it clear he didn't want a trade war and didn't believe

anyone would win if there was a trade war between China and America.

It is minus 17 degrees here in Davos tonight and it looks like the

US/Chinese relationship is about as chilly as that. We had a remarkable

through the looking glass moment today, the leader of the largest

communist party in the world coming to the home of capitalism, the World

Economic Forum, extolling the virtues of free trade as Donald

Trump said he wants to rip up free trade. The China president is

playing a clever game, as America turns inward he think hs deextend

the influence of China -- he can extend the influence of China. He

said he didn't want a trade war, but his tough words today felt like he

might be preparing for one. Thank you.

Sir Simon Rattle - the new music director

of the London Symphony Orchestra - says he'll start his first

season in September with a 10-day celebration,

including an all-British line-up of composers

Sir Simon - who is currently the artistic director

of the Berlin Philharmonic - has been speaking to our Arts

The London Symphony Orchestra in rehearsal of of a new work by the

British composer, Mark Anthony Turnage,

with Simon Rattle - soon to be

their new boss - taking them through their paces.

For the next year he will continue in his role at the Berlin

Philharmonic, while also being music director of the LSO and the front

man of the fund-raising campaign for a new concert hall for London.

How important is it to you that concert

It was one of the things I first asked the orchestra

We all know this is an if, not necessarily a when.

It will mean if it happens an enormous amount of

He's described the orchestra's current home at the Barbican

Centre at merely serviceable and said that that 20%

of the the LSO's potential repertoire can't

For all the strengths of the Barbican, that also

Limitations of size among other things.

But also of sight lines of theatrical possibilities.

Simon Rattle made his name with the City

of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, now under the direction

of Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla, who is operating under

One of your great loves has been cut quite hard.

No, I mean it's, this is a terrible thing.

At the time where the orchestra is on such a high, they

have appointed Mirga, who is a simply wonderful conductor,

another very charismatic personality.

At what point do these sort of cuts start to

have a real effect on the the orchestra to perform.

He says he will do his best to help - adding another job

to a lengthening to do list for his return to Britain in September.

Here on BBC One it's time for the news where you are.