Article 50 as it happened: Merkel scuppers May's Brexit strategy within hours of Article 50 being triggered

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Theresa May says Britain's 'best days lie ahead' in Article 50 speech

Welcome to The Independent’s liveblog. Theresa May has formally triggered Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty and started the countdown on Britain’s two-year exit from the European Union.

Here are the latest updates:

• Merkel derails May's Brexit plan
• Donald Tusk to UK: 'We miss you already'
• Read Theresa May's full Article 50 letter to the EU
• Article 50 triggered
• Read Theresa May's full Brexit statement to the Commons
• Leaked EU response to Britain's Article 50 letter
• What will happen to the economy?
• Latest updates on the pound 

Welcome to The Independent’s liveblog as Theresa May prepares to formally trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty and start the countdown on Britain’s two-year exit from the European Union.

Just after 4.30pm on Tuesday, Ms May signed the historic 6-page document in the Cabinet room of Downing Street below the portrait of Sir Robert Walpole – the first Prime Minister. Later today she will deliver a statement in the Commons on the Government’s negotiating strategy as well as facing Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, during the weekly session of Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs).

Around the same time, Sir Tim Barrow, the UK’s representative to the EU, will deliver the Prime Minister’s Article 50 letter to Donald Tusk, the President of the European Council, who will then make a brief statement.

The Prime Minister is expected to emphasise her “fierce determination to get the right deal for every single person in this country” and call for people to unite after the divisive and bitter referendum campaign last year.

As she prepares to invoke Article 50 and begin an arduous two-year negation to sever ties with Brussels, she added: “When I sit around the negotiating table in the months ahead, I will represent every person in the whole United Kingdom – young and old, rich and poor, city, town, country and all the villages and hamlets in between,”

Unite for Europe March, London, UK - 25 Mar 2017 (Rex)

“And yes, those EU nationals who have made this country their home. It is my fierce determination to get the right deal for every single person in this country.”

She said her guiding principles would be ensuring the UK was stronger and fairer than it is today.

[29 March 2017 16:35 · Kristin Hugo]

Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament's Brexit negotiator, is now speaking. He says the unrest in Northern Ireland must be avoided.

"We don't exclude a transition period - we propose three years. The Parliament will have to sign off the future agreement... we will do everything to minimise the negative effects. 

[29 March 2017 16:40 · Kristin Hugo]

Angela Merkel has dealt an instant blow to Theresa May's plan for Brexit by rejecting the PM's plan for trade talks to take place at the same time as Article 50 secession negotiations.

Britain will be put into the slow lane for discussions about any future trade deal with the EU following an intervention by the German Chancellor, who intervened just hours after the UK invoked Article 50.

Ms May had called for talks on a future comprehensive trade deal between the EU and UK to take place at the same time as the so-called 'Article 50' talks on how Britain will exit the bloc.

Ms Merkel today however said that talks on British divorce terms would take place first, after which talks on a future relationship would "hopefully soon" take place. The intervention could potentially make the Brexit process significantly more arduous for the UK.

The German Chancellor told reporters in Berlin: "The negotiations must first clarify how we will disentangle our interlinked relationship... and only when this question is dealt with, can we, hopefully soon after, begin talking about our future relationship."

In her letter triggering Article 50 Theresa May explicit said she believed it "is necessary to agree the terms of our future partnership alongside those of our withdrawal from the European Union". She repeated the statement four times.

[29 March 2017 17:11 · Kristin Hugo]

Full story on Merkel's words here by my colleague Jon Stone: 

[29 March 2017 17:39 · Kristin Hugo]

[29 March 2017 17:49 · Samuel Osborne]

Samuel Osborne here taking over from my colleague Ashley Cowburn. 

Stick with us for updates after Theresa May formally triggered the process that will see Britain leave the European Union. 

[29 March 2017 17:50 · Samuel Osborne]

White House press secretary Sean Spicer says President Donald Trump led calls for Brexit. More here: 

[29 March 2017 17:58 · Samuel Osborne]

Home Secretary Amber Rudd said it was "likely" the UK would leave Europol and could take UK data away from the organisation unless there was a deal.

Asked if the UK would come out of Europol she said: "Not at the moment, that hasn't been agreed.

"What we need to do is have a relationship with Europol that allows us equal access, for instance the Americans have access to Europol, they don't have the same depth as we have in it.

"We need to have an agreement with Europol to make sure that we continue to contribute and we continue to take out."

Pressed on whether the UK would not be a member of Europol, she told Sky News: "That is likely to be the outcome, yes, but it is too early to say exactly how those agreements will pan out."

She added: "We are the largest contributor to Europol, so if we left Europol then we would take our information, this is in the legislation, with us.

"The fact is the European partners want us to keep our information in there, because we keep other European countries safe as well. This isn't a huge contentious issue."

She insisted there was "no threat" to the EU on security cooperation and insisted that the Prime Minister was not linking an economic deal to crime-fighting measures.

"It's the same paragraph but it's not in the same sentence," she said.

[29 March 2017 18:06 · Samuel Osborne]

Nicola Sturgeon has branded Brexit a "reckless gamble" as she said Scotland should be allowed to choose its own future once the terms of the UK's departure from the European Union are clear.

Theresa May's triggering of Article 50, formally starting the EU exit process, is a "leap in the dark", the First Minister added.

She was speaking after SNP Westminster leader Angus Robertson warned the Prime Minister that denying Scots a vote between Brexit and independence will make the break-up of the UK "inevitable".

The First Minister said: "Fully nine months after the EU referendum, the UK Government still cannot answer basic questions about what Brexit will mean for businesses, for the economy generally, and for the type of society we live in.

"I wish the Prime Minister well in the negotiations which lie ahead, because a good Brexit deal for the UK is in Scotland's interests.

"But the UK Government's hard-line approach to Brexit is a reckless gamble, and it is clear, even at these very early stages, that the final deal is almost certain to be worse economically than the existing arrangements - and potentially much worse.

"Scotland voted decisively to remain part of Europe, but the UK Government only formally responded with a dismissal of our compromise proposals to keep Scotland in the single market at the same time as the Article 50 letter was sent.

"The next two years are hugely important and will determine the kind of country Scotland will become.

"The Prime Minister has today confirmed her aim is to reach a Brexit agreement covering a future relationship within two years. So the people of Scotland must have the final say on their own future once the terms of Brexit are clear."

[29 March 2017 18:13 · Samuel Osborne]

The European Parliament's Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt said the triggering of Article 50 was an "unprecedented and regrettable event".

He said the rights of EU citizens in the UK and Britons on the continent should be the first item on the agenda in the talks because they must not be used as "bargaining chips" in the negotiations.

He warned the UK against going "behind our back" to seek trade deals with other countries while still a member of the bloc, and issued a warning to EU member states who could be "tempted" to do their own deals with Mrs May.

In a reference to the possibility of the UK being required to pay a divorce fee, Mr Verhofstadt said: "We expect from the UK that in this financial settlement they honour all their legal, financial and budgetary obligations."

Mr Verhofstadt said any deal with the EU could not be better for the UK than full membership.

"That is not a question of revenge, that is not a question of punishment, that is the logic of the European Union, of the European treaties, of the European project," he said.

[29 March 2017 18:22 · Samuel Osborne]

Ms May said she was convinced Britain's new relationship with the EU "can have the same benefits in terms of that free access to trade".

She told the BBC's Andrew Neil: "What we're both looking for is that comprehensive Free Trade Agreement which gives that ability to trade freely into the European Single Market.

"And for them - and for them to trade with us. It will be a different relationship, but I think it can have the same benefits in terms of that free access to trade."

Asked whether the UK would stay a member of the police and security cooperation organisation, Europol, after Brexit, the Prime Minister said: "I think security co-operation in a number of crime and justice matters is important for us.

"It's not just Europol, there are some other things, there are systems about exchanging information about people crossing borders, for example, which I think are valuable: valuable to us, and valuable to the other countries in the EU...I would like to be able to maintain the degree of co-operation on these matters that we have currently."