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'WE WANT CONTROL BACK'

Eurosceptics blast emergency brake immigration plan as woefully inadequate

Tory MPs have called on Theresa May to pull Britain out of the free trade area altogether

Theresa May and Francois Hollande

A POTENTIAL EU offer to give Britain a temporary emergency brake on immigration has been branded woefully inadequate by Tory MPs.

It has emerged that some of Europe’s leaders are looking at a plan to allow the UK to slap a ceiling on the number of new arrivals as part of a Brexit deal.

Some Tory MPs want Theresa May to pull out of the free trade area altogether
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Some Tory MPs want Theresa May to pull out of the free trade area altogetherCredit: EPA
Boris Johnson, pictured at the United Nations, says he is confident of being able to do a deal and says it should be done quickly
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Boris Johnson, pictured at the United Nations, says he is confident of being able to do a deal and says it should be done quicklyCredit: Photoshot
Under the terms of the deal the UK could have a seven-year emergency brake on immigration but still be allowed to be in the single market
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Under the terms of the deal the UK could have a seven-year emergency brake on immigration but still be allowed to be in the single marketCredit: Rex Features

The plan would let Britain stay in the single market, but the limit would only last for a maximum of seven years.

Eurosceptics dismissed it, and instead called on Theresa May to pull Britain out of the free trade area altogether.

Veteran Tory MP John Redwood said the UK did not vote for Brexit to get a “slightly beefed up version” of David Cameron’s failed EU renegotiation deal.

Francois Hollande is sceptical about the possible deal and thinks Britain should not be given special status
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Francois Hollande is sceptical about the possible deal and thinks Britain should not be given special statusCredit: EPS
Hans van Baalen (left), from the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy, pictured talking with the Poland's Nowoczesna Party leader Ryszard Petru
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Hans van Baalen (left), from the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy, pictured talking with the Poland's Nowoczesna Party leader Ryszard PetruCredit: PAP

Leaving anti-EU campaigner and Conservative MP Steve Baker added: “British migration policy needs to be operated on the basis of British citizenship, not EU citizenship.

“We want to have taken back control and be seen to have taken back control.”

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But in a sign of a fresh internal Tory clash to come, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said during a visit to New York that the UK could retain access to the single market.
It’s vital for financial firms to still be able to sell services across the European Union, Boris insisted.
Former Prime Minister David Cameron with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other leaders during the EU negotiations in February
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Former Prime Minister David Cameron with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other leaders during the EU negotiations in FebruaryCredit: Getty

New Tory Party chairman Patrick McLoughlin also poured cold water on the fledgling emergency brake plan.

The Cabinet minister said: “We want to see our own borders under our control”.

He also dampened speculation about a snap general election by dubbing it a “very difficult” thing to do, but didn’t rule one out.

Chancellor Philip Hammond last night warned that Brexit will cast “a shadow” over the world economy for two years until uncertainty around it is ended.

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