Mayor Sadiq Khan in stinging attack on Theresa May's Brexit plans

Political reporter(wp/es):

Sadiq Khan today launched a blistering attack on Theresa May’s plans for Brexit, warning that her tough stance could “rip Britain apart”.

The Mayor claimed the Prime Minister’s ‘hard Brexit’ strategy was to paper over splits in the Conservative party and not in the best interests of the country.

He said Britons risked being left to explain to future generations why they had put the country’s economy and prosperity at threat.  

It came after Mrs May warned Brussels in a major speech she would walk away from talks if offered a bad deal, as she set out her Brexit vision for the first time.

She confirmed Britain would leave the single market, hinted at a cap on European Union migrants and said the final Brexit deal would be put to a vote in Parliament.

But writing in the Standard, Mr Khan said: “A hard-line approach to Brexit may hold the Conservative Party together, but it could rip Britain apart.

“And if we continue on this path - towards a ‘hard Brexit’ – we risk having to explain to future generations why we knowingly put their economy, their prosperity and their place on the world stage in such peril.”

The Mayor accused the PM of “brushing away” the importance of securing privileged access to the single market which would be “critical” for London to flourish. 

In a speech at the global economic summit in Davos, he warned that without access to the EU trading bloc many businesses in the capital could struggle to survive.

“Securing privileged access to the single market must be the top priority for the negotiations. It’s critical for London. Nothing else will do. It can’t be brushed aside – as it was yesterday,” he was expected to say.

“The benefits of Britain retaining privileged access are real and tangible. Having access to the single market would mean the difference between businesses thriving and growing, or struggling to survive.”

The Mayor urged European businesses leaders to press their governments for a workable Brexit deal during his 24-hour visit to Davos - warning that a hard Brexit would be a “lose-lose” for the whole of the EU.

He was expected to meet heads of government including Erna Solberg, prime minister of Norway, which is a member of the single market but not the EU, as well as the chief executives of Siemens, Hitachi and Mastercard.

In a keynote speech hosted by Morgan Stanley, he said: “A ‘hard Brexit’ would cut Europe off from its only truly global financial centre. This would be bad news for Europe as well as Britain. So a hard Brexit really would be a lose-lose situation.

“Tell your political leaders that a ‘hard Brexit’ deal is not in the best interests of your company. This won’t be easy. But I’m confident that despite the Prime Minister’s rhetoric, there is still a sensible deal to be done.”