Theresa May's Brexit fears revealed in leaked recording
In a leaked recording to The Guardian, Prime Minister Theresa May revealed her fears on the impact of Brexit on British business as well as security in the UK outside of Europe.
Speaking to Goldman Sachs, May privately warned that companies would leave the UK if the country voted for Brexit.
This stance reveals a stark contrast to her public speeches since she was appointed, wherein she advocates a “hard Brexit”.
On 26 May the then home secretary went on to state the economic benefits of remaining in the EU. She told the investment bankers that it was time the UK took a lead in Europe and that she hoped voters would look to the future rather than the past.
“Being part of a 500-million trading bloc is significant for us. If we were not in Europe, I think there would be firms and companies who would be looking to say, do they need to develop a mainland Europe presence rather than a UK presence? So I think there are definite benefits for us in economic terms,” said May.
At the Conservative Party conference, May said British companies needed the “maximum freedom to trade and operate in the single market” but not at the expense of “giving up control of immigration again” or accepting the jurisdiction of judges in Luxembourg.
May also said Britain’s security was best served by remaining in Europe because of the European arrest warrant and the information sharing between the police and intelligence agencies.
“There are definitely things we can do as members of the European Union that I think keep us more safe,” she said.
May was invited to speak as part of the bank’s Talks@GS programme which invites high achievers from all walks of life.
When questioned on whether she wanted to be prime minister at the bank she focused on the referendum.
“That is one of my messages in terms of the issue of the referendum, actually we shouldn’t be voting to try to recreate the past, we should be voting for what is right for the future,” she said.
She also emphasised the need for the UK to be at the forefront within Europe.
“What I do think is that the UK needs to lead in Europe. I think over the years the UK has tended to take a view that Europe is something that is done to us, we have taken a rather backseat position to Europe, I think that when we go out there, when we can take the initiative and when we lead, we can achieve things.”
The revelations prove May’s support for the remain side was far stronger than her lukewarm backing during the campaign. May’s abstinence from the debate angered many of her senior conservative colleagues with Cameron’s former chief of communications Craig Oliver wondering if she was secretly an “enemy agent” for the other side.
Lib Dem leader Tim Farron said it was “disappointing that Theresa May lacked the political courage to warn the public as she did a bunch of bankers in private about the devastating economic effects of Brexit. More disappointing is that now she is supposedly in charge, she is blithely ignoring her own warnings and is prepared to inflict an act of monumental self-harm on the UK economy by pulling Britain out of the single market.”
Phil Wilson, a Labour MP speaking for the Open Britain group campaigning for the UK to stay in the single market, said: “It’s good to know that privately Theresa May thinks what many of us have been saying publicly for a long time – leaving the single market would be bad for businesses and for our economy. Now she is prime minister, Theresa May is in an unrivaled position to act on her previous concerns – starting by putting membership of the single market at the heart of her government’s negotiating position.”
A No 10 spokesman responded saying: “Britain made a clear choice to vote to leave the EU and this government is determined to make a success of the fresh opportunities it presents. David Davis made very clear in the House of Commons last week the importance the government places on financial services across the UK in the negotiation to come, as has the chancellor in recent weeks. We want a smooth and orderly exit from the European Union, which would be in the interests of both Britain and the EU.”