Theresa May will not give a 'running commentary' on Brexit negotiations with EU

Theresa May said she would not give a “running commentary” on Brexit negotiations and “reveal our hand prematurely” to the EU as she refused to say whether the country will stay in the single market.

At the first Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) since the summer recess, May was challenged by Labour and SNP MPs to confirm if the UK will stay in the European single market.

In a statement to the House of Commons before PMQs, May said negotiations with the EU was not about getting the Norway model or the Swiss model, but developing a British model.

She added: “We will not take decisions before we are ready, we will not reveal our hand prematurely and we will not provide a running commentary on every twist and turn of the negotiation.”

The Prime Minister said she wanted control over EU immigration to the UK, but Brexit secretary David Davis said on Monday it was “very improbable” that the country could control its borders while staying in the single market.

At PMQs several Labour MP’s challenged May over Brexit negotiations.

MP Ben Bradshaw said giving up membership of the single market out of a “dogmatic” need to cut immigration would be an act of self harm, and former shadow education secretary Tristram Hunt asked what conversations the Prime Minister has had with Japan about Brexit.

The Japanese government recently warned that if the UK did not retain access to the single market its biggest companies would likely move from Britain to the EU.

Former shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said it was important to know what May values in Brexit negotiations and if she valued membership of the single market.

This was echoed by Angus Robertson, the SNP’s Westminster leader, who asked twice if May wanted to remain in the single market after Brexit. May responded that she would not give a running commentary on negotiations.

She previously said that she wanted to the right deal for Britain and to build a new relationship with the EU.

Jeremy Corbyn devoted five out of his six questions to the Prime Minister on the housing crisis and the last on the closure of women's refuges, going against his leadership challenger’s plea ahead of PMQs. Owen Smith said that Corbyn should target EU negotiations with his allotted questions.

Corbyn said that the average price for a house in the UK is £215,000, which is more than eight times the average wage and that home ownership was a “dream” for many people.

May said the government was helping people buy their first home and house building was on the rise under the government.

He also said that one one in every five council houses sold under the Right to Buy scheme, which was introduced by her predecessor David Cameron, was short of the government's one-for-one pledge.