British Prime Minister Theresa May secured a cabinet agreement on Friday for her plans to leave the European Union, overcoming rifts among her ministers to win support for “a business-friendly” proposal aimed at spurring stalled Brexit talks. After an hours-long meeting at her Chequers country residence, May seemed to have persuaded the most vocal Brexit campaigners in the cabinet to back her plan to press for “a free trade area for goods” with the EU and maintain close trade ties. The agreed proposal – which also says Britain’s large services sector will not have the current levels of access to EU markets – will not come soon enough for Brussels, which has been pressing May to come up with a detailed vision for future ties. Published in Daily Times, July 8th 2018.