Michael Howard: UK does not need to be in EU single market

Lord Howard said terms such as "hard" and "soft" Brexit were "unnecessary and unhelpful"

Britain should not remain a member of the single market once it leaves the European Union, former Conservative leader Michael Howard has said.

Lord Howard told the BBC the UK should secure "access" to it instead.

He also said Brexit negotiations should be concluded "as soon as we can" to avoid prolonged uncertainty about the UK's future relationship with the EU.

The government has not said when it will start the formal exit process, other than it will not begin this year.

There is also uncertainty over the nature of the UK's relationship with the bloc post-Brexit, especially whether it intends to remain a member of the single market, which offers free movement of goods, finance and people around the EU without any tariffs, quotas or taxes.

European leaders have repeatedly stressed that the UK cannot stay in the single market without accepting the free movement of EU citizens.

• What has happened since Brexit?

• Brexit: All you need to know

The UK voted to end its EU membership by 51.9% to 48.1% in a referendum on 23 June.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Lord Howard - who backed the Leave campaign - said the British people voted for control of their own laws, immigration and borders and for the UK to have the right to make free trade agreements with other countries.

'No tariffs'

"I don't think you can have those things without leaving the single market. I don't think we should be or need to be members of the single market.

"Of course we want access to the single market which is an entirely different thing".

The peer, who led the party 2003 to 2005, said "every country in the world" had access to the single market to sell their goods and the "important question" was "what are the terms on which you have access".

"Every European country which is not a member of the EU, with the exception of Belarus, has a free-trade agreement on goods with the European Union. That means no tariffs, no tariff barriers, free trade on goods.

"I have no doubt that's what we're going to get," he said, saying that it was in the EU's own interest.

Theresa May has vowed to get the "right deal" for Britain post-Brexit

Rejecting the argument that Britain may not be able to get the deal it wanted, he insisted: "We are not a supplicant. We will get a good deal."

Lord Howard said it would be a good idea "to bring these negotiations to a conclusion as soon as we can" and while it was perfectly reasonable for the government to take time to look at all the angles "uncertainty is something we don't want to prolong".

He also said terms such as "hard" or "soft" Brexit were unhelpful and unnecessary, saying a "fair" Brexit deal - to both the UK and the EU - was what was needed.

Prime Minister Theresa May has insisted "Brexit means Brexit" but she is coming under sustained pressure from political opponents to set out the government's Brexit strategy and its vision for the UK's future outside the EU.

'Vote again'

Mrs May has refused to give a "running commentary", saying it would be an error to "reveal our hand prematurely".

But she has said the government was committed to securing the "right deal" for Britain, that includes a "good deal" in trading goods and services, as well as controls on immigration.

Meanwhile, French presidential hopeful Nicolas Sarkozy has said, if elected, he would give Britain an opportunity to reverse its vote to leave the EU by negotiating a new treaty with Germany for EU members, the Financial Times reports.

The paper quotes him as saying: "I would tell the British, you've gone out but we have a new treaty on the table so you have an opportunity to vote again. But this time not on the old Europe, on the new Europe.

"Do you want to stay? If yes, so much the better. Because I can't accept to lose Europe's second-largest economy while we are negotiating with Turkey over its EU membership.

"And if it's no, then it's a real no. You're in or you're out."