Cabinet agrees to demand end to free movement as part of trade deal with Europe after Brexit
Cabinet's all-day Chequers meeting saw an agreement to re-establish border controls, as EU migrants entering the UK hits record high

THERESA May last night announced controlling the numbers of EU immigrants coming to Britain will be her first Brexit red line.
The Cabinet agreed the landmark demand on Europe’s 27 other leaders as a key part of our breakaway deal after a marathon all-day meeting at Chequers yesterday.
Re-establishing immigration controls means an end to 43 years of free movement to and from the continent.
It has spiralled out of all control in the last 10 years, leading to a record high rate of 268,000 new arrivals a year from Europe.
A second key principle agreed by Mrs May’s top table of ministers yesterday was to get a good deal to keep up goods and services trade to EU nations.
But that objective was far loosely defined, signalling a first victory for the government’s immigration hardliners – which include the PM - over its free marketeers such as Chancellor Philip Hammond.
The PM’s spokeswoman said: “Several cabinet members made it clear that we are leaving the EU but not leaving Europe, with a decisive view that the model we are seeking is one unique to the United Kingdom and not an off the shelf solution.
“This must mean controls on the numbers of people who come to Britain from Europe but also a positive outcome for those who wish to trade goods and services.”
The Cabinet also agreed there would be no vote in Parliament to formally begin Britain’s EU exit, as the PM doesn’t need MPs’ authority to trigger the official mechanism - Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty.
And the PM’s top ministers also agreed on “pushing ahead to Article 50” - signalling it will still be triggered early in the New Year, as Mrs May has promised.
In a break with precedent, Mrs May announced yesterday she will make a specific speech about Brexit on the first day of Tory on top of the traditional leaders’ speech on its last day.
No10 aides admitted last night the PM knows she has to communicate more about how the government is progressing with Brexit, with massive public interest in it.
The PM branded it “a very significant moment for the country” as a new future for it is mapped out.
In her first words to the Cabinet meeting, Mrs May reinforced her declaration that there will be no going back on the referendum result, saying: “We must continue to be very clear that “Brexit means Brexit”, that we’re going to make a success of it.
“That means there’s no second referendum; no attempts to sort of stay in the EU by the back door; that we’re actually going to deliver on this”.
She still faced increased pressure from anti-EU Tory grandees to speed up Britain’s EU departure and not try to cut a deal on trade.
Former Chancellor Nigel Lawson called on her to trigger it as soon as possible, saying: “As soon as you stop wasting time trying to negotiate the unnegotiable – some special trade deal with the European Union – it is possible to have a relative quick exit”.
But former Tory business minister Anna Soubry insisted it was vital for the UK to keep its access to the single market as well as free movement, insisting “British business could not survive” without workers from the continent.
An ex-Tory Foreign Office minister insisted yesterday that it was “premature” to start formal talks until the deep divisions over Brexit strategy in the Cabinet have been resolved.
Hugo Swire said the PM’s first task was to resolve a “fault line” that runs right through the heart of the Cabinet on continuing access to the single market.
In a phone call with the Norwegian PM yesterday – whose country is outside the EU - Mrs May confirmed yesterday she wants to draw up a bespoke deal for Britain.
Our new relationship with Europe should be about “what is going to work best for the UK, rather than necessarily pursuing an existing model”, she added.
That would rule out joining the European Economic Area alongside Norway, which would entail having to continue with freedom of movement.
Former Cabinet Secretary Lord O’Donnell has urged Mrs May top take her time so that she comes up with the right deal.
Pro-EU Labour MP and chair of Vote Leave Watch Chuka Umunna said last night: “It is now more than two months since the referendum was held, and many years since Vote Leave campaigners started dreaming about Brexit.