The most senior figures in the UK Government have agreed a common vision for the UK's future relationship with the EU post-Brexit.

It is far from certain that the EU will accept the proposals agreed by the cabinet after their meeting at Chequers on Friday. Theresa May may still face revolts from Tory MPs on both sides of the debate.

But with less than a year to go before Britain will leave the union we have the clearest sight yet of the deal the Prime Minister wants to negotiate.

Here are 10 key points from the statement agreed at the crunch cabinet meeting at Chequers

1. The UK Government wants a ‘free trade area for goods’

Members of the cabinet gather at Chequers

This is a top goal for Theresa May which she hopes will both avoid delays at ports and the need for border checks in Ireland.

The free movement of goods, capital, services and labour are the four key freedoms that underpin the Single Market. This effectively indicates that the UK wants to remain part of the single market for goods - if the EU will allow it.

The document states: “At the core of this proposal is the establishment by the UK and the EU of a free trade area for goods.

"This would avoid friction at the border, protect jobs and livelihoods, and ensure both sides meet their commitments to Northern Ireland and Ireland through the overall future relationship.”

2. The UK and EU would agree a ‘common rulebook’ for goods

Campaigners from Our Future Our Choice outside Chequers

This is a central plank of her plan for to persuade the EU that her vision is feasible, but the element that is likely to be most controversial for the arch Brexiteers. It would see the UK and the EU continue to abide by the same regulations.

The Chequers statement describes how the UK would make an “upfront choice to commit by treaty to ongoing harmonisation with EU rules on goods, covering only those necessary to provide for frictionless trade at the border”.

Mrs May will hope eurosceptics will go along with this because “Parliament would have oversight of the incorporation of these rules into the UK’s legal order – with the ability to choose not to do so”.

However, the most fervent supporters of Brexit are likely to argue that abiding by a common rulebook is not what it means to take back control. Another big question is how much influence the EU would allow the UK to have in devising new regulations.

3. Goodbye to free movement, hello to a ‘mobility framework’

Free movement will end - but the Government does not want to stop the flow of people

Free movement of people is one of the pillars of EU membership. The Government is committed to “end free movement” and give the UK “back control over how many people enter the country”.

However, employers have been alarmed at anything that would make it harder to hire staff or bring people from abroad to the UK to work on projects. Likewise, universities do not want do see student numbers fall.

The statement proposes a “mobility framework so that UK and EU citizens can continue to travel to each other’s territories, and apply for study and work”.

It falls short of the free movement of people, which is why there will be major changes to how banks and other UK firms operate in Europe.

4. Big changes are coming for services

The City of London will face new challenges

The Government hopes to forge a free market for goods. Without accepting free movement of people, it doesn’t pretend the same is possible for services, which account for a massive slice of the UK economy.

It states: “We would strike different arrangements for services, where it is in our interests to have regulatory flexibility, recognising the UK and the EU will not have current levels of access to each other’s markets.”

Hopes of a “passporting” system to allow UK-based financial businesses to sell services right across the EU continuing after Brexit are dead. The Government admits its proposals will "not replicate the EU’s passporting regimes".

5. The UK will accept limits on its ability to support industries

State aid rules could determine the level of support a government could give to steelworks in Port Talbot.

A left-wing argument for Brexit has been that governments have been limited in their freedom to financially support businesses because of rules on “state aid”.

These rules exist to stop, for example, one government ploughing cash into the steel industry or aviation sector in a way that could have devastating consequences for rivals in other countries.

But the Chequers statement says the “UK would commit to apply a common rulebook on state aid”.

6. Britain promises not to undercut the EU on environmental standards or social rules.

Farmers will not see environmental requirements slashed

The EU will be want to make sure that Britain does not compete for international investment by weakening environmental regulations or making it easier for companies to sack workers.

The Government rules out such a race to the bottom, saying it will “maintain high regulatory standards for the environment, climate change, social and employment, and consumer protection” and “not let standards fall below their current levels”.

This will disgruntle diehard free-marketeers for whom Brexit is seen as an opportunity to slash red tape.

7. The EU Court of Justice won’t have the final say – but the UK will pay ‘due regard’ to its judgements

The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg

A top priority for Brexiteers is avoiding granting supremacy to the EU Court of Justice – but who decides if the ‘common rulebook’ has been breached?

The Government aims to agree a new “framework” which would allow rulings to be made “in the UK by UK courts” and in “the EU by EU courts – with due regard paid to EU case law”.

It envisages a system of “binding independent arbitration” but both the EU and the eurosceptics will have strong concerns about how this might work.

8. A ‘customs arrangement’ is coming

A Sinn Fein billboard opposing the introduction of a 'hard border'

Leaving the customs union is a key goal for Brexiteers. They will want assurances that a “facilitated customs arrangement that would remove the need for customs checks and controls between the UK and the EU as if a combined customs territory” is not a customs union by another name.

The document sets out how this could work: “The UK would apply the UK’s tariffs and trade policy for goods intended for the UK, and the EU’s tariffs and trade policy for goods intended for the EU... This would enable the UK to control its own tariffs for trade with the rest of the world and ensure businesses paid the right or no tariff - in the vast majority of cases upfront, and otherwise through a repayment mechanism.”

Again, a key goal here will be avoiding (a) the need for anything that looks like a hard border reappearing in Ireland, which would outrage republicans, and (b) the need to keep Northern Ireland in the customs union, which would appal the DUP.

The Government says its proposal honour “the letter and the spirit” of the Good Friday Agreement.

9. The UK would not be stopped from securing new trade deals

Will International Trade Secretary Liam Fox now get the chance to secure new deals?

The dream of many people at the heart of the Brexit campaign was that the UK could cut trade deals around the world. It is inconceivable they will back the PM’s plans if this is not impossible.

The Chequers statement insists the UK “would have its own seat at the WTO, be able to set tariffs for our trade with the rest of the world, and have the ability to secure trade deals with other countries”.

It also states that the UK may seek to join the “Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership” – which would open up a new era of trade with Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. Britain would be the only the only European sate in the grouping.

10. Preparations for a 'no deal' Brexit will step up a gear

EU Chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, right, is the man Brexit Secretary David Davis has to deal with

Many people in the business community are terrified by the prospect of the UK crashing out of the EU without a deal, with Airbus describing it as “catastrophic” for its operations (much of which are based in Broughton, North Wales).

EU negotiators may calculate that the prospect is too awful for Britain to contemplate, but the cabinet resolved to step up preparations for such an outcome.

There are likely two key reasons for this.

One, if a deal cannot be reached the UK will need a vast range of measures in place to ensure there is not chaos at the ports and an economic crisis. Any PM who had not prepared her country for such a possibility would be pilloried.

Second, preparing for “no deal” arguably strengthens the UK’s negotiating hand in pushing for the best possible post-Brexit arrangements. If EU negotiators believe it is simply unthinkable that the UK would walk away from talks they will feel empowered to push their preferred deal; Mrs May may be trying to send a message to her EU counterparts that, as she put it in her Lancaster House speech back in January 2017, “no deal for Britain is better than a bad deal for Britain”.

The Welsh Government says it has been kept in the dark

A Welsh Government spokesman said: “We cannot comment in detail before we have seen the full White Paper. As the Cabinet Secretary for Finance made clear on Thursday, the UK Government failed to consult us properly in advance on its contents and we are still in the dark on the detailed proposals it will contain: this is clearly unacceptable. The Prime Minister should be focused on uniting the country, not just her Cabinet around a credible negotiating position.

“However, the communiqué suggests there has been at least half a step forwards, particularly in terms of a recognition that our manufacturing and farming industries have nothing to gain, and masses to lose, from moving away from the regulatory environment of the EU. We welcome this change of direction.

“But while full and unfettered access to the single market for goods is absolutely essential, we would like to see the evidence to justify the different approach to services now proposed by the UK Government which will certainly result in increased barriers to trade. The suspicion must remain that this has more to do with keeping Liam Fox in his current job than securing the jobs of tens of thousands of workers whose employment depends on exports of financial and professional services to the EU.”

The CBI is relieved

CBI Director General Carolyn Fairbairn

Carolyn Fairbairn, CBI Director-General, said: “Business will welcome the fact the Government has reached agreement. This is a genuine confidence boost and the Prime Minister deserves credit for delivering a unified approach.

“Initial signs suggest the proposal is based on the evidence firms have provided on the impact on jobs and living standards. That is good news – particularly the free trade area for goods, which the CBI and its members have long called for.

“The hard work starts now, and time is a challenge. It has taken two years for the UK to agree its position; we now have two months to agree it with Europe. But it’s a good starting point.

“As negotiations begin in earnest, business insight has never been more important. Detail matters - from customs arrangements to the need for the Government to keep fighting for our world leading services.

“Europe’s leaders must approach this proposal with an open mind and flexibility, putting jobs and economic growth at the heart of a future deal that delivers for both sides.”

Plaid Cymru says the EU won't allow the UK to 'cherry pick' what it wants

Plaid says the EU will not allow the UK to pick and choose what it wants

Plaid MP Jonathan Edwards said: “It is slowly dawning on Westminster that everything they have told the electorate so far is fanciful and undeliverable. This latest proposal continues to cherry pick certain aspects of EU membership in a way that the EU’s negotiators have made perfectly clear is unacceptable.

“More fudge means yet more uncertainty and yet more damage to our economy. The only logical outcome is to maintain our membership of the Single Market and the Customs Union.

“That is what our economy needs, our people want, and it is the only way we can protect people’s jobs, wages and standard of living.”

Eurosceptics want answers to key questions

Mark Littlewood of the Institute of Economic Affairs, a right-leaning think tank which champions free market policies, said the statement offered up “many more questions than answers”.

He said: “How far, in practice, would UK regulations be able to diverge from the EU’s, or have we just regained control in order to copy their rulebook... It is unclear whether freedom to diverge on tariffs will be enough to do new trade deals with third countries if we cannot also diverge on non-tariff barriers and regulations.

“Moreover, it is not apparent what becomes of financial services. Will we press ahead with proposals for mutual recognition...

“And who knows, perhaps the EU will reject these proposals anyway.”

Supporters of a second referendum are not giving up

Leading pro-EU Labour MP Chuka Umunna

Labour’s Chuka Umunna said: “No-one should be in any doubt: the proposal on offer from the Government would represent a bad deal for our country, will create huge added bureaucracy and costs for business, and is highly unlikely to be accepted by the EU.

“However anyone voted in the 2016 referendum, they should be furious at this government stitch-up. This only confirms how important it is that we have a people’s vote on whatever botched Brexit deal the Government comes up with, so the people of this country can decide whether or not it’s good enough.”