11:52 Theresa May walks to the podium and after a brief moment of applause her speech begins. She starts by saying the British public voted for change six months ago, with their "eyes open". They voted for a "brighter future", not just to leave the EU but to embrace a wider world.

11:53 The PM says that she wants the UK to be "fairer, more secure, united and outward looking" as a result of Brexit.

There is the first mention of a Global Britain, with the UK remaining a "good friend and neighbour" to the EU but "reaching out" beyond its borders to other continents.

11:59 The UK's culture is "profoundly internationalist" and the referendum vote was not an instruction to "turn inwards" or retreat, Mrs May says.

The PM dismisses talk of insularity, saying most Britons have family from all over the world and people "instinctively" want to travel, study and do business across the globe.

The Leave vote was not a "moment Britain chose to step back from the world but to build a truly global Britain".

12.00 The rest of the EU does not necessarily understand why the British public voted the way they did and are now worried about what it might entail for the future of Europe, Theresa May says.

But the UK's PM says Brexit will not lead to a "wider unravelling" of the European project and insists that she would not support that.

However, she says the UK is a unique country with a unique history and political culture, in which she says - rather amusingly - that there is not a strong tradition of coalition government.

The UK may have come to be seen as an "awkward" member but that this was in part a response to the inflexibility and rigidity of the EU.

David Cameron's renegotiation was "one last valiant attempt" to reform the EU from within but it failed, she argues.

12.03 Mrs May is talking about the UK's relationship with the EU after Brexit, saying EU nationals will continue to be "welcome" to come to the UK and hopes that this will be reciprocated.

But she dismisses suggestions that the UK could retain an associate or partial membership of the EU, insisting it "cannot be half in and half out".

What she wants is a "new, constructive partnership" based on shared interests - with the UK restoring its sovereignty and self-determination.

12.04 The UK prime minister says that European laws and directives - the so-callec acquis - will be adopted into British law as part of the Brexit process.

And she confirms that the UK Parliament will have a vote on the final Brexit settlement when it is agreed.

12.10 Theresa May says the negotiations with EU partners will be tough but there will have to be "give and take" and compromises will have to be agreed.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland must be involved in the process and the planning for leaving - no decisions currently taken by the devolved administrations will be removed.

Turning to Northern Ireland, she talks about the political crisis and hopes that it can be resolved. She also says she values the common travel area between the UK and the Republic of Ireland, which predates EU membership, and which she says must be recognised in the final deal.

SNP economy spokesman Stewart Hosie says Scotland's trade with the EU has grown by 20% and "today's hard Tory Brexit puts that at risk".

He also suggests that some Leave voters wanted to remain in the single market.

Philip Hammond insists that the government aims to "engage constructively with the real world"

12.14 Theresa May is expanding on her 12 priorities for the negotiations, which she says are underpinned by four over-aching principles.

Moving on to immigration, she says the UK has always been an open and tolerant country which will continue to welcome the "brightest and the best".

But she says that when levels of migration get too high, support for open borders "falters" and says that the public were telling politicians that this had happened before and during the referendum.

The British people are demanding controls on the numbers of EU citizens coming to the country and she will deliver on that.

She goes on to to say that she wants to guarantee the right of EU citizens in the UK at an early stage if there is a reciprocal deal for UK citizens in Europe - some EU nations accept this will others don't, she announces.

12.20 Theresa May says she wants a "bold and ambitious" trade arrangement with the EU but insists this cannot mean continued membership of the single market.

This would involve the UK accepting continued jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice - which would effectively "mean not leaving the EU at all".

This would be unacceptable and she says:

We do not seek membership of the single market but the greatest possible access to it."

She raises the possibility that the UK might make an "appropriate contribution" to retain access to the single market - an idea backed by some ministers.

But she says the days of the UK "paying vast sums of money to the EU every day" will soon be over.

12.25 So we now have clarity on the single market - and the UK's future out of it.

The Prime Minister moves on to another vital component of a future Brexit settlement - the customs union.

She says the UK wants to be able to negotiate trade deals with countries around the world, but she also desires cross-border trade with the European Union to be as free and "frictionless" as possible.

Are these incompatible objectives? The PM says not.

The UK does not want be bound by a common commercial policy or common external tariff - key facets of the existing customs union - but will look to strike its own bespoke customs agreement with the EU.

She says she is "open-minded" about how this will be done and she has no pre-conceived position - adding "it is the ends rather the means" that matter.

12.29 The last important element in the jigsaw is now being addressed - will the UK seek some transitional arrangement after two years if no deal is reached?

Mrs May says that she wants to secure the outline of a trade agreement within the time allocated for the Brexit separation process.

But she acknowledges that there are concerns among business and she wants to avoid a "cliff-edge" situation where rules change overnight.

She is not seeking an "unlimited" transitional period, which would see the UK bound by EU rules - describing this as a form of "political purgatory".

But she says there could be individual interim arrangements to minimise disruption to certain sectors of the economy.

12.30 Theresa May talks about the importance of "discipline" within negotiations, saying a "stray word" or running commentary could be highly damaging.

Her job, she says sternly, is to get the best deal for Britain and "not to fill column inches" - that suggests that this will be Mrs May's last substantial word on her negotiating strategy for while.

12.34 Tough talk now - Theresa May gives what can only be interpreted as an ultimatum to other EU leaders.

While the UK wants to be a friend to the EU, if the EU takes a punitive approach to the talks, this would be an "act of calamitous self-harm" and would not be the act of the friend.

For a variety of political and economic reasons, she believes that a "bad deal would be worse than no deal" and the UK could easily get by with the latter.

The UK is drawing strength from the fact that people have come together since the Brexit vote, whichever way they voted. 

12.37 Common travel area to be a priority - Maintaining the common travel area between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland is a priority during the Brexit negotiations, Prime Minister Theresa May says.

12.38 We will be judged by what we made of Brexit

Theresa May concluded her speech with a clarion call to the UK to capitalise on the opportunities thrown up by Brexit:

When future generations look back at this time, they will judge us not only by the decision we made but what we made of that decision. They will see we shaped them a brighter future and they will know we built them a better Britain."

Source @BBC