#TheresaMayPM: ‘Goodbye Mr. Cameron, nobody will miss you’ - S&D Group President Gianni Pittella

Theresa May (pictured) has been summoned to Buckingham Palace and as of this afternoon (13 July) will be the new prime minister of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland. Prime Minister May campaigned for ‘Remain’, but wasn’t considered to be its most passionate advocate.

S&D Group President Gianni Pittella called for swift action from the new PM: “The UK finally has a new prime minister. Goodbye Mr. Cameron, nobody will miss you. Now Theresa May should promptly trigger article 50 in order to begin creating a new relationship with the EU. It must be clear that no negotiations will begin before this is done. The new UK prime minister needs to make clear to her own party, and to many 'Leave' voters, that a lot of what was promised in the referendum campaign is neither feasible nor desirable. If you want to have full access to the single market, then you will have to accept the principle of free movement and will have to follow the rules that govern it.

“Theresa May must also show greater responsibility than many of those on the Leave side of the debate. The cowardice that Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson have shown following the referendum is a disgrace. They have shown once again that populists are only interested in dividing and destroying and have no interest in putting forward credible solutions or being part of a responsible government.”

May has been a long-standing opponent of the EU’s current provisions on the free movement of people. Back in 2013 she raised concern about a significant increase in European net migration, from eastern European countries, but also from the old member states, such as Spain that are suffering from high levels of unemployment.

The ‘problem’, if that is how EU migration is to be considered, is one that some states feel is of the UK’s own making. The UK was one of the strongest advocates of EU enlargement, cynically hoping that this would lead to a dilution of the ‘European project’. Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker was also quick to point out that under Tony Blair the UK chose to open the UK’s labour market to the new eastern member states in 2004 without imposing transitional periods allowed by the EU.

During the EU referendum debate, the very significant contribution of EU migrants to the UK's economy was made clear. estimates showed that for every £1 received in state assistance by an EU migrant was more than compensated for by £1.34 in taxes. This also demonstrates how important these migrants have been to British business. EU migrants are also critical to the functioning of the UK’s National Health Service (NHS). The same NHS that voters believed would receive an additional £350 million per week following Brexit; a claim that has already been refuted by some of the ‘Leave’ sides' most prominent leaders.

European leaders from Chancellor Merkel to Donald Tusk have made it clear that on freedom of movement there will be no 'cherry-picking'. This means that the deal the UK says it wants to strike on membership of the single market with controls on the freedom of movement is an outcome that can already be ruled out.

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