Macron-May talks - as it happened: ‘If you want access to single market, be my guest’

UK-France Summit to take place at military academy, with Brexit high on the agenda

Emmanuel Macron and Theresa May arrive at Sandringham

Emmanuel Macron has finished a joint a news conference with Theresa May telling his counterpart if Britain wants access to the single market then “be my guest”.

Asked why he wanted to exclude financial services from a future UK-EU free trade agreement, Mr Macron said: “I am here neither to punish nor to reward.

“I want to make sure that the single market is preserved because that is very much the heart of the EU.

“The choice is on the British side, not on my side. But there can be no differentiated access for the financial services.

“If you want access to the single market - including the financial services - be my guest. But it means that you need to contribute to the budget and acknowledge European jurisdiction.

“Such are the rules, and we know the system already in place for Norway.”

The French President and a number of his ministers were attending the UK-France Summit at the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst.

The two leaders also confirmed the Bayeux Tapestry would come to Britain on loan after 950 years in France.

Key Points

Theresa May to announce UK will take more refugees from Calais

[18 January 2018 09:18 · Kristin Hugo]

Welcome to The Independent's Westminster live blog. We'll be bringing you all the latest updates as Theresa May meets Emmanuel Macron, the French President, at the Sandhurst military academy.

[18 January 2018 09:19 · Kristin Hugo]

Ahead of the UK-France Summit, Theresa May announced that the UK will take in more child refugees from Calais and will invest £44.5m in additional security at the French port. More from Rob Merrick:

[18 January 2018 09:52 · Kristin Hugo]

Labour MP Stella Creasy has called for a windfall tax to be introduced on PFI companies.

The Walthamstow MP previously led a campaign against payday loan companies and this morning said PFI firms "really are the legal loan sharks of the public sector". Speaking to BBC's Today programme, she said:

"It’s like a payday loan or a hire purchase agreement to build a school or a hospital and then run one. It’s a very expensive way to do it. And the question we all have to ask ourselves is what do we do next."

Ms Creasy said ministers should impose a windfall tax on PFI companies. She said:

"The one place where we do have leverage with them is on the tax they pay. They’ve also had a massive corporation tax bonus because corporation tax on a lot of these contracts [when they] were signed...was around 30 per cent. Under this government it has now dropped to 17 per cent. So we are estimating that some of them have saved around £190m in corporation tax payments alone. That is money that is owed to our public sector, and is money we could get back with a windfall tax."

[18 January 2018 10:33 · Kristin Hugo]

[18 January 2018 10:38 · Kristin Hugo]

A Conservative MP has called for children to be made to sing the national anthem in school "at least once a week".

Andrew Rosindell told Sky News: "I'd like to see young people sing the national anthem in assembly at least once a week. It's a fantastic way of bringing everyone together, beacuse whatever our background, whatever our religion, whoever we are, the one thing that unites us and brings everyone together is the belief in our country and the fact we are all British."

He added: "Our Queen represents centuries of tradition and convention, she upholds our constitutiion and democracy, and she's treated with respect by the whole world. There's no head of state that can unite the people more than the Queen."

Mr Rosindell later admitted he only knew the first two verses of "God Save the Queen".

[18 January 2018 10:45 · Kristin Hugo]

In the Commons chamber, Andrea Leadsom, the Leader of the House, has just wished the Speaker, John Bercow, a happy birthday for tomorrow.

"What better way to celebrate than by listening to tomorrow's private members bills?", she asked.

He can probably think of a few...

[18 January 2018 11:20 · Kristin Hugo]

[18 January 2018 11:34 · Kristin Hugo]

More than 70 MPs have written to Matthew Hancock, the Culture Secretary, to raise concerns over the treatment of female BBC staff who speak out about gender pay equality.

It comes after several female journalists were told they could not report on pay equality if they had spoken out in support of Carrie Gracie, who resigned as the Corporation's China Editor over the issue.

In their letter, the MPs said: "These reports that members of staff at the organisation have been told that they cannot comment on these matters in public without this affecting their duties directly impacts on their capacity to be able to seek equal pay.

“Freedom of speech is vital to tackling these often difficult and sensitive issues – the debate over the BBC’s handling of this situation will set the tone for employers across the country in how they respond to equal pay claims."

The Government should "give a direction to the BBC to ensure the freedom of speech of staff in pursuit of equality of opportunity,” they added.

[18 January 2018 11:40 · Kristin Hugo]

A bit more on the UK-France Summit at Sandhurst this afternoon, where Theresa May is due to host Emmanuel Macron.

A number of other cabinet ministers will also attend in order to meet their French counterparts. Downing Street has confirmed  the following ministers will all be present:

Philip Hammond (Chancellor of the Exchequer)

Amber Rudd (Home Secretary)

Gavin Williamson (Defence Secretary)

Boris Johnson (Foreign Secretary)

Greg Clark (Business Secretary)

Matthew Hancock (Culture Secretary)

Penny Morduant (Defence Secretary)

[18 January 2018 12:19 · Kristin Hugo]

BREAKING: Karen Bradley, the Northern Ireland Secretary, has just announced a new phase of talks aimed at re-establishing the devolved government in Northern Ireland.

Saying "one last opportunity to reach agreement remains", Ms Bradley said she was "confident" that talks could be successful.

"The gaps are narrow but there are still significant differences to overcome", she said, but added: "Based on my conversations so far, I believe it is possible to reach agreement. All of the parties have expressed their commitment to the restoration of the executive. They've indicated to me directly their willingness to engage in a constructive manner to try to reach agreement."

A "short" series of talks will begin next Wednesday, she confirmed.