THE Prime Minister’s commitment to leave the single market will be good for Dorset, says a prominent Brexiteer businessman.

Simon Boyd, managing director of REIDSteel in Christchurch, spoke to the Echo after Theresa May outlined the UK’s priorities for Brexit negotiations during a highly-anticipated speech in London yesterday.

Mrs May, who revealed a 12-point plan, said the UK could not remain within the European single market, as this would not mean leaving the EU.

She confirmed her intention to push for a free trade deal with the EU, but later commented “no deal for Britain, would be better than a bad deal for Britain.”

The Prime Minister also announced that MPs will get a vote on the final deal, and that some kind of customs agreement could be sought with the European Union. However, new trade agreements with countries outside the EU will also be prioritised.

Mr Boyd, who chaired the Brexit campaign Business for Britain in the South West, said: “It is obvious that we had to come out of the single market because had we stayed in the single market we would have still been in the EU.

“From a business perspective, the fact that there has been an omission today that we have to get out of the customs union is really good for exporters like us. This will enable the country to make its own trade agreements with other countries around the world. Whether you were remain or leave, the majority of businesses are going in the same direction now - lets make the best of it.”

Bournemouth West MP Conor Burns, who serves as parliamentary private secretary to Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Secretary Greg Clark, said he’s met chief executives of the FTSE 100 companies, international businesses and domestic businesses daily over the past few months.

“The one thing they all want, the one thing that pretty much unites them, is they want a degree of certainty,” said Mr Burns. “They want to know the terms of trade under what they will be operating.

“Having spent six months carefully reflecting, listening, understanding the issues, the Prime Minister has taken her time and she’s now being very clear about what she wants to achieve in this new relationship.

“The Prime Minister has done two critical things today. She has taken off the table two things that everyone told us the European Union wouldn’t give us by saying actually we don’t want those two things.

“What we want is a free trading relationship with the European Union area, we want to be your closest friends, your most reliable allay - but we want to be an independent, self-governing country.”

Meanwhile, Mid-Dorset & North Poole MP Michael Tomlinson also welcomed Mrs May’s speech.

“She’s shown once again that she is in tune with the public, the vast majority of whom want us to get on with it and make a success of it – regardless of the way they voted.

“ Let’s get behind the Prime Minister and ensure that we get the best deal for Britain and the EU and that our country continues to flourish.”

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