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May: Article 50 to be triggered before end of March next year

Theresa May has said the formal withdrawal process for Britain leaving the European Union will be invoked by the end of March 2017.

Speaking at the Conservative party conference in Birmingham, the prime minister also confirmed plans for a "Great Repeal Bill" to overturn legislation that took Britain into the EU.

However Mrs May came under attack from Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon after she said there is "no opt out from Brexit" and we will "never allow divisive nationalists to undermine the precious union between the four nations of our United Kingdom".

Mrs May also said she will not accept any limits on Britain's ability to control immigration in negotiations to leave the EU.

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Theresa May confirms plans for Great Repeal Bill

Theresa May has confirmed plans for a Great Repeal Bill to repeal the 1972 Act of Parliament which took Britain into what was then the EEC, and to transpose EU laws into domestic law.

She insisted she will aim to strike a deal with former EU partners to include "co-operation on law enforcement and counter-terrorism work ... free trade in goods and services" and "to give British companies the maximum freedom to trade with and operate in the single market and let European businesses do the same here".

"This historic bill, which will be included in the next Queen's speech will mean that the 1972 Act, the legislation that gives direct effect to all EU law in Britain will no longer apply from the date on which we formally leave the European Union," she said.

"Our laws will be made not in Brussels but in Westminster. The judges interpreting those laws will sit not in Luxembourg but in courts in this country. The authority of EU law in Britain will end."

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May: Article 50 to be triggered before end of March next year

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