Theresa May’s long-awaited Brexit plan was laid out on Wednesday and the public were treated to a whole 12 points of political action.
These include “certainty”, “control of our own laws” and “a smooth orderly Brexit”, all very in keeping with traditional British values.
In order to gauge the success of the speech the Conservatives took out a sponsored Facebook post asking for feedback.
And feedback they got.
Some more astute observers noticed the PM had appeared to have dabbled in a bit of a social media no-no.
To be fair to May, she did have her supporters.
Although Frankie wasn’t one of them.
And Ritchie certainly isn’t.
Even some of those foreigners May wants less of got involved.
In the long-awaited speech, May said she was “confident” a trade deal and a new strategic partnership between the UK and the EU can be achieved within the two-year deadline set out in Article 50, insisting a good deal for Britain will also be good for Europe.
She warned: “I know there are some voices calling for a punitive deal that punishes Britain and discourages other countries from taking the same path.
“That would be an act of calamitous self-harm for the countries of Europe. And it would not be the act of a friend.”
May confirmed she wants to take Britain out of the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice and restore control over immigration.
She gave her strongest hint yet that the UK could leave the European customs union (CU), stating she wanted to ensure “frictionless” cross-border trade.
But she said she had an “open mind” on whether that should be done through associate membership or a completely new customs agreement.
Declaring “no deal for Britain is better than a bad deal for Britain”, May repeated Chancellor Philip Hammond’s warning that if Europe is refused easy access to the single market, the UK could “change the basis of (its) economic model”.
That could mean Britain effectively becoming a low-tax, low-regulation haven like Singapore off the shore of Europe, competing for business and investment with its former partners, reports the Press Association.
European Council president Donald Tusk said the remaining 27 members were “united and ready to negotiate” while the European parliament’s chief negotiator, Guy Verhofstadt, said the “days of UK cherry-picking and Europe a la carte are over”.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn warned she would turn the UK into a “low corporate taxation, bargain basement economy” if the EU did not give her everything she wanted.
Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said: “Theresa May has confirmed Britain is heading for a hard Brexit.
“She claimed people voted to leave the single market. They didn’t. She has made the choice to do massive damage to the British economy.”