Theresa May proposes two-year 'period of implementation' after UK leaves EU - as it happened

This, from my colleague Patrick Wintour, explains what Theresa May really meant when she answered the penultimate question.

Q: [From a German journalist] What do you expect from Brussels?

May says she hopes Brussels will see that she is proposing a strong future partnership. She hopes people will respond in a tone of friendship.

The remaining 27 will consider what they want for themselves.

This is a proposal for how they go forward together, she says.

And that’s it.

I will post a snap verdict and a summary shortly, and of course I will be bringing you reaction and analysis as it comes in.

Q: During the implementation period would the UK be subject to new EU laws, even though it would not have a say? And would the UK pay for access to the single market?

May says during the implementation period the current rules would apply. The details would have to be part of the negotiation, she says.

She says the EU withdrawal bill actually brings EU law into UK law.

Q: You say you are unconditionally committed to European security. That means you will cooperate, with or without a deal. What do you say to people who say you have thrown away your best card?

May says people want the UK to continue a partnership with the EU that keeps people safe.

Q: What do you say to those people who think we should have left already, and stopped paying the EU? They have a right to feel pissed off, don’t they?

May says the UK is leaving. But it needs to leave in a smooth and orderly way.

We will leave the EU on 29 March 2019, she says.

Q: You have ruled out things in this negotiation only to have to concede them. Can you point to any areas where you have won concessions?

May says there are UK demands that have been agreed by Europe.

This is a negotiation, she says.

She says this is an opportunity for both sides to agree a new partnership.

This could provide a great future for both sides, she says.

Q: Do you rule out being a member of the EEA during the transition?

Q: You sounded closer to the Norway option than the Canada option?

May tells Sky News’s political editor, Faisal Islam, who asked the question, that he should stop thinking in terms of Norway and Canada. She is proposing something different.

Let’s think creatively, she says.

(She does not directly answer the EEA question.)

Q: What do you say to leave voters who will be cross about nothing much changing for up to five years?

She says people voted to leave the EU. She has set out how an implementation period would operate.

During that period, EU people coming to work in the UK would have to register.

Q: Is no deal still better than a bad deal?

Yes, says May. But she says she has set out how both sides can obtain a good deal.

May is now taking questions.

The first comes from an Italian journalist.

Q: What will change for the 600,000 Italians in the UK?

May says she wants EU citizens to be able to stay, with the same rights as they have now. She says both sides are “very close” to an agreement. She hopes that her assurance today on legal guarantees (see 2.42pm) will help.

She has a lot of Italians in her constituency, she says.

May says the way for both sides to proceed is to follow the approach she has set out today.

She says it is beholden on all of those involved to get there.

The negotiations will be difficult. But if they approach them in the right way, respectful and pragmatic, it can work for both sides.

May says she recognises this is not what the EU wanted. But they have to get on with it.

If they get the spirit of this partnership and negotiation right, they can make this vision happen.

And that’s it.