Theresa May refuses to commit to Brexit pledges

UK Prime Minister Theresa May has cast doubt on whether Brexit will lead either to a points-based immigration system or an extra £100 million (€120 million) a week for the National Health Scheme (NHS). These two points were central promises made by the leave campaign in the vote about the European Union.

May declined to endorse pledges made by the official Vote Leave group as she headed to China for the G20 summit, where Japan and the US issued strong warnings about the consequences of exiting the EU.

“One of the issues is whether or not points-based systems do work,” May said, stressing that there was “no single silver bullet” on reducing immigration.

May also refused to commit to working towards the promises made by Vote Leave of an extra £100 million (€120 million) a week to the NHS, scrapping VAT on fuel bills or ending contributions to the EU budget.

“I’m going to work for what I just said I’m going to work for: the best possible deal for the UK in terms of the relationship that we would have with the EU, following us leaving,” she said.

On becoming Prime Minister, May satisfied many Tory leave campaigners with a pledge that “Brexit means Brexit”, but beyond a pledge to move away from the current system of free movement of EU citizens she has not established a solid plan.

May has repeatedly said she intends to make a success of leaving the EU but admitted this weekend that there were difficult times ahead for the economy, even though it is currently doing better than many predicted before the 23 June referendum.

Backing former chancellor George Osborne, May said that there were no plans for more welfare cuts. However, she left the door open for this to shift if the economy deteriorated. “Obviously we have to look and see what happens in the economy, and how the economy does start to move ... We’ve got the plans that are there at the moment. And obviously anyone would be looking at how the economy pans out,” she said.

In an unprecedented set of demands over the terms of Britain’s exit, Tokyo said Japanese firms could move to other parts of Europe unless many of the current privileges of membership were maintained.

Moreover, after her first bilateral meeting with US President Barack Obama, May was told that the US wanted to focus on trade negotiations with the EU and a bloc of Pacific nations before considering a deal with the UK.