![\"Teresa](\"https:\/\/english.thesunrisetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Teresa-May.jpg\")
Prime Minister Theresa May told the British people Friday that they have to face \u201chard facts\u201d about Brexit, warning that the UK will have less access to European Union markets once it leaves the bloc.\nBut May also said she thinks a mutually beneficial future relationship is possible, and she urged EU leaders to work with her to deliver a \u201cbold and comprehensive economic partnership.\u201d
\nIn a speech aimed at answering critics who have accused the UK government of failing to grasp the tough realities of leaving the EU, May said Britain wanted \u201cthe broadest and deepest possible agreement \u2014 covering more sectors and cooperating more fully than any free trade agreement anywhere in the world today.\u201d
\nShe said Britain\u2019s goal post-Brexit is \u201ca bold and comprehensive economic partnership with our neighbors in the EU, and reaching out beyond to foster trade agreements with nations across the globe.\u201d
\nHowever, the other EU members might interpret Britain\u2019s aim as attempting to cherry-pick benefits of EU membership, something the EU has repeatedly warned May\u2019s government it cannot do.
\nThe UK is due to leave the EU in March 2019, but the two sides have yet to negotiate new arrangements for trade, security, aviation and a host of other fields.
\nEU leaders have warned that May\u2019s insistence on leaving the EU\u2019s single market and customs union makes the continued close ties she is seeking impossible.
\nIn a speech aimed both at the EU and at a UK that remains divided over whether Brexit is a good idea, May acknowledged that British access to EU markets \u201cwill be less than it is now\u201d after Brexit.
\n\u201cThis is a negotiation, and neither of us can have exactly what we want,\u201d she told an audience at the Mansion House in London.
\nBut she signaled that Britain is willing to make major compromises to secure what she called the world\u2019s most ambitious free trade deal.
\n\u201cU.K .and EU regulatory standards will remain substantially similar in the future\u201d to ensure there is no need for tariffs and other obstacles for the free movement of goods, May said.
\nShe said \u201cbold and creative thinking\u201d could lead to solutions for trade in services and other areas.
\nMay also mentioned that Britain wants to remain a member of some EU agencies, including those governing medicines and aviation \u2014 and is willing to pay and to play by the agencies\u2019 rules.
\n\u201cIf this is cherry-picking, then every trade relationship is cherry-picking,\u201d the British leader said, noting that all trade deals are unique.
\nAddressing the EU, May said: \u201cWe know what we want. We understand your principles. We have a shared interest in getting this right.
\n\u201cLet\u2019s get on with it.\u201d<\/p>\n