Theresa May is set to tell business leaders to be “optimistic” over plans for a trade deal with the EU after Brexit.
In a speech to trade chiefs at the Confederation of British Industry today, the Prime Minister is set to highlight the importance of a transitional agreement despite recently claiming no deal would be made until divorce agreements are finalised.
She will tell leaders any deal will be introduced with a “strictly time-limited implementation period” to get things moving more quickly.
Mrs May will also call on traders to show “rational optimism” about the economy over the next decade once Britain has left the EU.
The talks come after months of pressure on Mrs May to commit to a basic idea of what a trade deal will look like in 2019.
International businesses have become increasingly vocal in recent weeks over fears that Britain could crash out of the world’s biggest trading bloc without a deal.
Mrs May surprised many executives two weeks ago when she said that any transition deal would only be part of a wider trade agreement - potentially stripping companies of the time they needed to prepare to leave the EU.
On Monday, she will say that she is confident that Britain and the EU will soon be able to start discussing the outlines of any transitional deal.
Many business leaders are opposed to Britain’s plans to leave the EU fearing leaving the trading bloc amid claims prices business costs will soar.
But supporters of Brexit say although there may be a short-term hit to the economy, Britain will benefit over the long term by being able to set its own rules.
Ahead of a policy document on industrial strategy that will be published this month, Mrs May will also signal a break with traditional Conservative economic policy.
This will take lessons “from the past failures of governments to give sectors and places across the country the long-term support they need to cope with economic change and compete in a changing global market place”, the Prime Minister will say.
