Theresa May refuses to rule out EU citizens getting preferential rights to come to Britain after Brexit

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Theresa May has suggested EU citizens could be given preferential rights to come to the UK after Brexit.

The prime minister insisted freedom of movement will end when Britain leaves the EU but said the issue of whether to give citizens of European countries special treatment has yet to be decided.

She also hardened her stance on dissent in her party, warning cabinet ministers they face being sacked if they speak out against the government's Brexit policy.

It comes after the cabinet agreed a plan for Britain's future relationship with the EU following a day of talks at the prime minister's Chequers country retreat.

Under the proposals, freedom of movement between the UK and the EU will end but a "mobility framework" will be set up to make it easier for people to travel between the two, including for study and work.

The details of the UK's immigration policy after Brexit remain a sticking point between cabinet ministers, with Sajid Javid, the home secretary, reportedly insisting that EU citizens should not be given special treatment.

He is said to have believed he secured such a concession from Ms May during the Chequers talks, but her latest comments throw that into doubt.

Speaking to the BBC, the prime minister said: "What I'm clear about is that we will bring an end to free movement.

"As we look ahead to the immigration rules for people coming from the European Union, we need to look at that in the context of the wider rules we have for immigration from outside the EU, and we will decide the rules that are right for the UK."

Asked if this meant EU citizens could be different preferential treatment, she said: "We are going to decide. What we're going to do is say what works for the UK - what's right for the United Kingdom? We will put our national interest."

She added: "We recognise that people will still want to have opportunities in each other's countries."

Ms May insisted the plan agreed at Chequers would be welcomed by the EU, saying: "From the soundings I've had so far, there is a willingness to sit down and talk about this and a recognition that actually we now are in the stage where we need to agree what the future relationship's going to be.

"This is a serious, workable proposal."

The plan would result in a softer Brexit than many Eurosceptic Conservatives would like, with the UK adopting a "common rulebook" with the EU on the mutual trade of goods. This would effectively keep Britain in the single market for good - a suggestion that triggered an angry backlash from Brexiteers

Several anti-EU ministers reportedly raised concerns about the proposals in private, but Ms May said that, from now on, she will not tolerate any public dissent.

Having already written to Tory MPs to say she was reintroducing collective cabinet responsibility, she told ITV: "When the referendum was announced, David Cameron suspended what is called collective responsibility, recognising people would want to campaign on different sides of the argument.

"Now what was clear at the cabinet meeting was a feeling that we come together now in collective responsibility, that we go out in unity and we go out and sell this deal to our European colleagues.

"The mood at the meeting last night was very clear that we have agreed this deal and we want to move forward together in the interests of the UK."