British prime minister Theresa May has been quick to shake her latest nickname, “Theresa Maybe.” She’d garnered it for her wishy-washy guidance on what the UK’s future outside of the European Union would like, as she made it clear that the government wouldn’t be giving a running commentary on negotiations. This has made businesses and investors nervous and the pound dropped to lows from the 1980s against the dollar.
Today (Jan. 17), in one of her biggest speeches since becoming prime minister, May succumbed to some of the pressure and laid out a 12-point list of objectives for Brexit. Here’s what we know:
Britain is leaving the EU single market
The single market is an ambitious agreement between EU nations that allows for the free movement of goods, workers, services, and capital around the bloc, without any tariffs. It’s all-for-one or nothing. Though Brexit was the option selected by just 52% of voters, May said it was a clear message that the British people wanted control over immigration from the EU. In order to end the free movement of people, the UK can’t and won’t be part of the single market, she said.
