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UK will be 'unequivocally pro-business' after Brexit, Theresa May tells American investors

Prime minister touts plan for one of lowest corporation tax rates among leading industrialised nations

Wednesday 26 September 2018 10:55 BST

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Theresa May says she trusts Donald Trump

Britain will be “unequivocally pro-business” after it leaves the European Union, Theresa May will promise investors.

The prime minister will tell the Bloomberg Global Business Forum in New York that the UK will be the low tax, high-skilled place to invest after Brexit.

Speaking days after EU leaders rejected her plans for future trading relations, Ms May will insist she is “confident” a deal can be reached.

She will say the UK has a plan to create an economy which is appealing to investors across the world, with corporation tax the lowest among leading industrialised nations.

“My message today is that a post-Brexit Britain will be an unequivocally pro-business Britain,” Ms May will say.

Corporation tax in the UK is 19 per cent but will fall to 17 per cent under Conservative manifesto plans, the lowest rate in the G20 group of industrialised nations.

Ms May has frequently clashed with Jeremy Corbyn over the issue of low taxation post-Brexit, during heated Prime Minister’s Questions sessions.

Also on Wednesday, Mr Corbyn is to denounce “greed is good” capitalism at the Labour conference in Liverpool.

Labour votes to keep open the option of second Brexit referendum

Ms May will say the UK wants to forge the most dynamic and ambitious free trade agreements with “old friends and new allies alike”.

“Crucially we also have a plan to deliver an economy that is knowledge-rich, highly innovative, highly skilled and high quality but with low tax and smart regulation,” she will add.

“So let me say this bit very clearly. Whatever your business, investing in a post-Brexit Britain will give you the lowest rate of corporation tax in the G20.

“You will access service industries and a financial centre in London that are the envy of the world, the best universities, strong institutions, a sound approach to public finance and a consistent and dependable approach to high standards but intelligent regulation.”

Brexit casualties

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Brexit casualties

Andrea Jenkyns - Resigned from Parliamentary Private Secretary at the ministry for housing, communities and local government role

May 2018 - The Morley and Outwood MP said: “We want to see a new relationship with Europe, with a new model not enjoyed by other countries – nothing that leaves us half-in, half-out. “And in order to achieve this, we need to leave the customs union.” Ms Jenkyn’s also said she wished to dedicate more of her time to Parliament’s influential Exiting the European Union select committee, after a series of “unbalanced” reports produced by MPs

PA

Brexit casualties

David Davis - Resigned from Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union role

July 2018 - quit following a major row with May over her plans for post-Brexit relations with the EU. Davis resignation letter said: “As you know there have been a significant number of occasions in the last year or so on which I have disagreed with the Number 10 policy line, ranging from accepting the [European] Commission’s sequencing of negotiations, through to the language on Northern Ireland in the December Joint Report. “At each stage I have accepted collective responsibility because it is part of my task to find workable compromises, and because I considered it was still possible to deliver on the mandate of the referendum, and on our manifesto commitment to leave the Customs Union and the Single Market. “I am afraid that I think the current trend of policy and tactics is making that look less and less likely.” He went on to argue that the “general direction” of Ms May’s policies would leave the UK “in at best a weak negotiating position, and possibly an inescapable one”.

AFP/Getty

Brexit casualties

Steve Baker - Resigned from Minister at the Department for Exiting the European Union role

July 2018 - Mr Baker, a key Tory figure in the Leave campaign, was David Davis’s main lieutenant at Dexeu, and was hailed as ”courageous and principled” by other Brexiteer Tories as he also left.

Reuters

Brexit casualties

Boris Johnson - Resigned from Foreign Secretary role

July 2018 - resigned over May's Chequers plan. In his resignation letter to the prime minister, Mr Johnson said: "On Friday, I acknowledged that my side of the argument were too few to prevail and congratulated you on at least reaching a Cabinet decision on the way forward. "As I said then, the government now has a song to sing. "The trouble is that I have practised the words over the weekend and find that they stick in the throat."

Reuters

Brexit casualties

Conor Burns - Resigned from Parliamentary Private Secretary to Foreign Secretary role

July 2018 - A Brexit supporter who worked alongside Boris Johnson stated in his resignation letter: “I've decided it's time to have greater freedom. I want to see the referendum result respected. And there are other areas of policy I want to speak more openly on.”

Rex

Brexit casualties

Chris Green - Resigned from Department for Transport role

July 2018 - The Bolton West MP said: "Parliament overwhelmingly decided to give the decision of whether to leave or remain in the European Union to the British people and they made an unambiguous decision that we ought to leave. "I have always understood the idea in 'Brexit means Brexit' is that the final deal should be clear to me and my constituents - that we have, in no uncertain terms, left the European Union. Twitter Ads info and privacy "The direction the negotiations had been taking have suggested that we would not really leave the EU and the conclusion and statements following the Chequers summit confirmed my fears. "I recognise that delivering Brexit is challenging, however I had hoped at tonight's meeting that there would be some certainty that my fears were unfounded but, instead, they have been confirmed. "I have been grateful for the opportunity to serve as Parliamentary Private Secretary and it is with regret that I offer my resignation with immediate effect."

PA

Brexit casualties

Maria Caulfield - Resigned from Conservative Party vice-chair for women role

July 2018 - resigned over May's Chequers plan. Lewes MP warned that the direction of travel did “not fully embrace the opportunities that Brexit can provide”. Ms Caulfield said in her letter to the PM: “The policy may assuage vested interests, but the voters will find out and their representatives will be found out. This policy will be bad for our country and bad for the party. “The direct consequences of that will be prime minister Corbyn.”

PA

Brexit casualties

Ben Bradley - Resigned from Conservative Party vice-chair for young people role

July 2018 - resigned over May's Chequers plan. The Mansfield MP said: “I admit that I voted to Remain in that ballot. What has swayed me over the last two years to fully back the Brexit vision is the immense opportunities that are available from global trade, and for the ability for Britain to be an outward looking nation in control of our own destiny once again. “I fear that this agreement at Chequers damages those opportunities; that being tied to EU regulations, and the EU tying our hands when seeking to make new trade agreements, will be the worst of all worlds if we do not deliver Brexit in spirit as well as in name, then we are handing Jeremy Corbyn the keys to No10.”

PA

Brexit casualties

Robert Courts - Resigned from Parliamentary Private Secretary role

July 2018 - resigned over May's Chequers plan. MP Mr Courts said: “I have taken a very difficult decision to resign my position as [parliamentary private secretary] to express discontent with the Chequers [plans] in votes tomorrow. “I had to think who I wanted to see in the mirror for the rest of my life. I cannot tell the people of Woxon that I support the proposals in their current form.”

Getty

Brexit casualties

Scott Mann - Resigned from Parliamentary Private Secretary role

July 2018 - resigned over May's Chequers plan. "I fear elements of the Brexit white paper will inevitably put me in direct conflict with the views expressed by a large section of my constituents. I am not prepared to compromise their wishes to deliver a watered-down Brexit. "The residents of North Cornwall made it very clear that they wish to have control over our fishery, our agricultural policy, our money, our laws and our borders. I will evaluate those principles against the Brexit white paper and ensure that I vote in line with their wishes."

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Ms May, who was dealt a humiliating blow at a summit of EU leaders in Salzburg last week when they rejected her Chequers blueprint for post-Brexit relations, will insist there is no other plan that respects the result of the referendum and resolves the Irish border issue.

“Our relationship with the EU will change with Brexit. But we will still be neighbours, we will still be part of the European family of nations, and we will continue to champion the same beliefs – standing for freedom, democracy and the rule of law, underpinned by a rules-based global order,” she will say.

“This is why I am confident we can reach a deal about our future relationship that is built in this spirit.”

She will also insist there is “no other plan” that meets all the of the UK’s Brexit red lines in the way Chequers will.

Ms May is attending the United Nations General Assembly, where she is scheduled to meet with Donald Trump on Wednesday evening to push for a post-Brexit trade deal.

Such a trade deal is considered an important way for Ms May to help offset the economic impact of leaving the EU in March next year. It was high on the agenda when the prime minister ensured she was the first foreign leader to visit Mr Trump in Washington following his inauguration last year.

Support from the US president could boost Ms May’s struggle to win over her critics, who have argued her exit plan is unworkable.

On Tuesday, she said a general election before Brexit would not be in the national interest.

Speaking to reporters as she flew to New York for a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, Ms May said: ”What I’m doing is working to deliver a good deal with Europe in the national interest. It would not be in the national interest to have an election.”

She also staunchly rejected a second Brexit referendum.

Additional reporting by agencies

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