Theresa May Florence speech live updates: PM pleas to stay in the Single Market for two years after Brexit

What will be in Theresa May's big Brexit speech?

Theresa May has proposed remaining in the single market for a transition period of around two years after Brexit.

In a landmark Brexit speech in Florence, the Prime Minister said existing market arrangements should continue to apply during a two-year implementation period after Britain leaves the bloc in March 2019.

She indicated freedom of movement would also continue during the transition but workers coming into the UK would go through a "registration system".

Ms May said: "Clearly people, businesses and public services should only have to plan for one set of changes in the relationship between the UK and the EU.

"So during the implementation period access to one another’s markets should continue on current terms and Britain also should continue to take part in existing security measures. And I know businesses, in particular, would welcome the certainty this would provide.

"The framework for this strictly time-limited period, which can be agreed under Article 50, would be the existing structure of EU rules and regulations."

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Key Points

• PM's plea to stay in the Single Market for two years after leaving
• Sterling falls as traders give verdict on May's speech
• Read the Prime Minister's speech in full

[22 September 2017 14:15 · Andrew Griffin]

Theresa May and David Davis have arrived in Florence, ready for the speech. And in a Maserati, no less. 

[22 September 2017 14:19 · Andrew Griffin]

Not that it matters very much, but The Independent's Jon Stone has cleared up whether Ms May is speaking in a church (as was said before today), or in a police barracks (as the BBC is now reporting). The answer is: it's in the barracks. But both of those things are in the same complex, which presumably led to the confusion.

It seems to be a very efficient building: earthly and divine punishment, all in one place.

[22 September 2017 14:23 · Andrew Griffin]

Here's what that room looks like, via Jon Stone. It looks beautiful – except a huge, boring white screen with dull truisms has been slapped in front of it, so you can't actually see any of this on the TV.

[22 September 2017 14:26 · Andrew Griffin]

Theresa May might use the speech to suggest that the UK could leave the EU before March 2019, the previously agreed date, the Telegraph reports. It's not clear whether that's simply a negotiating tactic or a genuine change in policy.

[22 September 2017 14:28 · Andrew Griffin]

Like me and apparently everyone else, Nigel Farage isn't keen on how the room has been laid out.

[22 September 2017 14:29 · Andrew Griffin]

Theresa May is on stage, and speaking about Florence. She's speaking about how the plan has helped defined "what it means to be European".

[22 September 2017 14:30 · Andrew Griffin]

The prime minister is mostly talking fluff about the value of Europe, and the importance of the current moment. As the EU moves forward "we want to be your friend and partner", she says.

[22 September 2017 14:32 · Andrew Griffin]

She talks about the value of European co-operation on borders: cracking down on traffickers and helping people who want a better life. And co-operation against ISIS, too. And a summit to "move further and faster on preventing terrorism". (It's still fluff, apparently intended to stress that the government wants to stay close to Europe.)

[22 September 2017 14:35 · Andrew Griffin]

Now onto the government's understanding of the referendum vote. People voted to have more sway on decisions and control, she says. The "strength of feeling" about this is "one reason why the United Kingdom has never felt totally at home in the European Union". And it has never felt like an "integral part of our national story" like it has for other countries in Europe.

[22 September 2017 14:36 · Andrew Griffin]

All of that doesn't mean we're turning our back on Europe, she says.