Brexit minister David Davis warned on Thursday that parliament could veto any final deal negotiated with the European Union unless it has a “substantive” idea of what the future trading relationship will look like.
Britain is aiming to secure a comprehensive free trade deal with the European Union and wants it to be signed shortly after it leaves the bloc in March 2019, although there is scepticism about how much can be agreed by then.
Britain’s parliament will vote on a formal withdrawal treaty later in the year — covering issues such as the divorce bill and citizens’ rights – in a potential flashpoint in the Brexit process.
Opponents of leaving the EU have identified winning enough support in the lower house of parliament, the House of Commons, to block any possible deal the government brings back from Brussels as their best chance of overturning Brexit.
Britain’s vast financial services industry will emerge largely unscathed from Brexit and the sector will suffer far fewer job losses than first feared, Davis said.
“The reason that the City is the biggest and most successful financial center in the world … is not just Europe, it’s about the mass of skills, the business environment here, it’s about the reliability of tax law.”
