British talks on trade deals outside EU received warmly - May's spokesman

Reuters
Britain's and some European flags are hung outside the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium December 4, 2017. REUTERS/Yves Herman

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will be leaving the EU's customs union to strike its own free trade deals and has had positive responses from countries with which ministers have held preliminary trade talks, a spokesman for Prime Minister Theresa May said on Monday.

"The PM was clear that we will be leaving the customs union," he told reporters.

"We also want the freedom to strike our own free trade deals ... We've been engaged in preliminary discussions on trade with more than a dozen countries and ... you can see that there has been a warm response."

(Reporting by Elizabeth Piper; Editing by Alistair Smout)