Theresa May refuses to guarantee EU rules for 48-hour working-week limit will survive Brexit

Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. In her statement, which followed the EU agreeing the negotiations can move onto phase two, Ms May argued the country was now “well on our way to delivering a smooth and orderly Brexit”. However, Ms May acknowledged that whether the UK would still continue to abide by the policy during a two-year transition period was a “matter for the negotiations”. Tim Farron, the former Liberal Democrat leader, warned: “The Government is going to sacrifice the family farm and cripple British farming, if they switch off the common agricultural policy without a plan to replace it.” The clashes came after an “inner cabinet” finally debated what final Brexit deal Britain should aim for. The Prime Minister was also asked if she would sack Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, after his weekend warning that the UK could become a rule-taking “vassal state”, but replied: “No.”