Theresa May signals Brexit transition won’t be agreed until final deal

LONDON: UK Prime Minister Theresa May repeatedly dodged questions on Monday as to whether she will seek a swift agreement on the Brexit transition period that businesses are crying out for, rather than bundling it into the overall deal.

Businesses are stepping up their calls for an urgent agreement with the European Union that would allow them to trade as usual for two years after Brexit.

But May’s spokesman said that the transition deal would be part of a wider agreement, which isn’t expected to be finalised until shortly before Brexit day in March 2019. “Everybody has always been clear that we are looking to wrap all this up in one single go; everything will be agreed at the same time,” the spokesman, James Slack, told reporters in London.

“The point of an implementation period is it’s a bridge to where you’re headed, so you need to know where you’re headed to finalise that implementation period.