May: Britain will forge new role in world after Brexit

The Prime Minister said the UK is facing a period of "momentous change" and will need to forge a new role in the world following the decision to leave the European Union.

Theresa May told the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday that citizens "upset the odds" by voting to leave the EU.

She described the vote was a decision to "embrace the world" but conceded that Britain must face up to a period of "momentous change".

"It means we must go through a tough negotiation and forge a new role for us in the world," she said.

"It means accepting that the road ahead will be uncertain at times but believing it leads to a brighter future for our children and grandchildren too."

In an apparent reference to immigration and free movement, May referred to "other reasons" Britons chose to leave the EU but attempted to reassure European leaders.

"Our decision to leave the European Union was no rejection of our friends in Europe with whom we share common interests and values and so much else," she said.

"Nor was it an attempt to undermine the European Union itself. It remains overwhelmingly and compellingly in Britain's national interest that the EU as an organisation should succeed."

She said Britain wants a "bold and ambitious" trade agreement with the EU and that the country would step up to a new leadership role as a strong advocate for business, free markets and free trade after Brexit.

She said that the UK has already started discussions with countries including New Zealand, Australia and India.

But she warned multinational businesses should avoid "short-term thinking" and help restore faith in globalisation among citizens that felt left behind by the pace of economic change.

She urged companies to be part of communities do "even more to spread those benefits to more people".She said that businesses should also show leadership "to show that in this globalised world, everyone is playing by the same rules."

The speech came as a series of major businesses made clear they were reconsidering their plans for operations in the UK after she announced that the UK would come out of the European single market.

HSBC indicated 1,000 jobs from the bank's London business are on course to move to Paris while Barclays is looking to route activities through Ireland and Germany and Switzerland's UBS is preparing to move posts from the UK to the continent.

Car giant Toyota's chairman Takeshi Uchiyamada told the Financial Times: "We have seen the direction of the Prime Minister of the UK, (so) we are now going to consider, together with the suppliers, how our company can survive."

European Parliament's chief Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt warned it was an "illusion" to suggest the UK could leave the EU but retain the benefits of tariff-free trade.

Writing in The Guardian, Mr Verhofstadt said no one in the EU wanted to "punish" the UK.

But he added: "It is an illusion to suggest that the UK will be permitted to leave the EU but then be free to opt back into the best parts of the European project, for instance by asking for zero tariffs from the single market without accepting the obligations that come with it."