PM to back multi-year Brexit transition deal in Florence speech

Theresa May flies in to Florence with key Cabinet ministers today in an attempt to unlock stalled talks on the UK's post-Brexit future, calling for "creativity" in what is "inevitably, a difficult process".

Her intended audience in the Tuscan capital - leaders of the EU27 nations - will not be there in person. But the PM will appeal to them by offering to fulfil UK commitments in the existing EU budget round until the end of 2020, even after Britain formally leaves the bloc in March 2019.

That equates to a "financial settlement" of at least £20bn, and perhaps more, though no number will be used.

In return, she will accept a time-limited transition period, which will essentially keep the same existing rules and market access in terms of the single market and customs union for a period of about two years until 2021. This has been a key demand of many businesses in recent weeks, and most Cabinet ministers.

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One Cabinet minister told Sky News that in order to deliver a politically sustainable Brexit, the Government had to do a deal that works for young people, "otherwise they will simply reverse it within a decade or two".

Another, from a different wing of Cabinet, denied that Mrs May would hint at a softer than envisaged Brexit, very close to the Norway EEA model. But nor will the PM accept a straight free trade arrangement as recently signed by the EU with Canada.

The PM is expected to remind leaders of their "profound sense of responsibility" to ensure a smooth Brexit and in establishing a new economic and security partnership.

She is expected to say: "If we can do that, then when this chapter of our European history is written, it will be remembered not for the differences we faced, but for the vision we showed; not for the challenges we endured but for the creativity we used to overcome them; not for a relationship that ended but a new partnership that began.

"While the UK's departure from the EU is inevitably a difficult process, it is in all of our interests for our negotiations to succeed.

"So I believe we share a profound sense of responsibility to make this change work smoothly and sensibly, not just for people today but for the next generation who will inherit the world we leave them.

"The eyes of the world are on us but if we can be imaginative and creative about the way we establish this new relationship."

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Florence was chosen as the host for the PM's Brexit speech because of enduring European values: an embodiment of the fact that Britain is "not leaving Europe".

Mrs May will be arriving with a large entourage including important Cabinet ministers who have already read the speech.

With a nod to the intervention last week from the Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson, she will argue: "Britain's future is bright." She will boast of the UK's "indomitable spirit" and "an exceptional national talent for creativity".

There are no less than six audiences this afternoon.

Beyond the squabbling Cabinet, now united behind the approach, there is a tight Parliament, including her own backbenchers, which will be asked to pass the necessary legislation.

There is the main audience, who will not be their in person: the leaders of the EU27 nations, to whom she hopes to appeal directly.

There is a divided public who did not give her the "strong hand" she asked for at the election.

Then there is 'Team Barnier' - led by the EU's chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier - who pre-empted this speech by visiting Rome on Thursday and appearing with Italian PM Paolo Gentilioni.

And, above all, there are the representatives of a bemused business community who appear to have got their way in demanding a transition after communicating the full impact of a cliff-edge Brexit to the PM.

Mr Barnier launched a laser-guided attack on the UK Home Office on Thursday, suggesting that a recent refusal to follow High Court rulings and mistakes over deportation letters showed why any deal on EU citizens' rights had to be enforceable in EU law, and adjudicated by the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg, after Brexit. This is being resisted by UK negotiators as it blurs one of the PM's red lines.

In Florence, the PM is expected to face protests from British citizens resident in Italy, who have been campaigning alongside EU citizens in the UK for stronger guarantees of existing rights after Brexit.