Brexit news: Boris Johnson prepared to walk away from free trade deal, as Barnier insists UK must keep EU regulations

Barnier demands UK abides by EU standards to uphold ‘level playing field’

The EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier has begun speaking in Brussels about what the bloc expects from the trade talks with the UK.

He said Brussels was ready to offer a “highly ambitious” trade deal with zero tariffs on goods. The “exceptional offer” is dependent on aligning with EU standards and making sure competition remaining “open and fair”.

In remarks that won’t please No 10, Barnier said there needed to be a “level playing field” on regulatory standards “over the long term”.

“That means mechanisms to uphold the high standards we have on social, environmental, climate, tax and state aid matters,” he said.

Barnier also said that Britain’s new status outside the EU meant the terms for the UK will be “less favourable”.

EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier (Reuters) 

Negotiations can begin in just over a fortnight, says Barnier

Michel Barnier said trade deal negotiations with the UK can begin “immediately” after a mandate is approved by the EU Council on 20 February – just over two weeks away.

The EU chief negotiator also said the more the UK was prepared to maintain common standards with the EU, the higher quality access it would get to EU markets.

“This will be up to the UK to decide. Will it continue to adhere to Europe's societal and regulatory model in the future or will it seek to diverge?” he said.

“The UK’s answer to this question will be fundamental to the level of our ambition of our future relationship. The UK must know this.”

He also said: “Goods entering the EU from the UK would be subject to regulatory checks,” he said.

“These are the automatic and mechanical consequences of the UK's choices and businesses must adapt now to this new reality.”

PM refuses to say ‘Brexit’ anymore

Boris Johnson has begun his speech in south-east London by saying he refuses to use the word Brexit.

“I won’t even mention the name of the controversy, except that it begins with the letter B and it’s receding in the past behind us,” he told an audience of business figures and global ambassadors.

He extolled the virtues of freed trade as “God’s diplomacy” but warned that freed trade “is being choked” by protectionist approach to tariffs.

“The protectionists are gaining ground, from Brussels, to China to Washington, tariffs are being waved around like cudgels.”

Johnson talked about the UK being ready to throw off “Clark Kent spectacles” and be a free trade superhero – ready to play a game of “multi-dimensional chess” to strike several trade deals at once.

Boris Johnson at Old Naval College in Greenwich (AP) 

‘We want trade deal similar to Canada,’ says PM – who backs Australian-type deal as plan B

Boris Johnson has argued the UK does not need to abide by EU standards, insisting the UK will maintain the “highest standards” in food, hygiene and animal welfare post-Brexit.

Dismissing “conspiracy theorists” and “mumbo jumbo” he insists the NHS will not be on the table in any trade talks with Washington.

“We’ve made a choice – we want a comprehensive, free trade agreement similar to Canada. But, in the unlikely event we do not succeed, then our trade will have to be based on our existing withdrawal agreement with the EU.

“The choice is emphatically not ‘deal’ or ‘no deal’. We have a deal. We’ve done it. And it did indeed turn out, as I correctly prophesised, to be oven ready.

“The question is whether we agree a trading relationship with the EU comparable to Canada’s or more like Australia’s. I have no doubt in either case the UK will prosper mightily.”

Boris Johnson speaking at Old Naval College (AP) 

‘Americans look pretty well-nourished to me’, says PM

Boris Johnson has been challenged over his reference to Australia-style trade arrangements – asked if it’s little more than a “euphemism” for a no-deal crash-out scenario.

He dodges the question by claiming he already has a deal with the EU – the withdrawal agreement.

Challenged again over the fact he has not yet agreed a trade deal, he simply said: “We’ve got a deal – it’s a great deal. We’re out.”

Asked about his reference to “mumbo jumbo” talk over the UK-US trade deal and fears over chlorinated chicken as part of dropping in food safety standards.

“I look at Americans and they look pretty well-nourished to me … let’s take some of the paranoia out of this.”

He is asked whether the word Brexit is now “banned”, Johnson said: “It’s not banned. It’s just over ... it’s gone. I wouldn’t say it’s like the big bang or the Norman Conquest. It’s just that it’s receding into history behind us.”

Boris Johnson speaking at Old Naval College (AP) 

‘I’ve come to the end of my patience with automatic early release’, says PM

The prime minister was also asked about the Streatham attack and possible changes to the probation system with regards to prisoners convicted of terror offences.

He said: “I’ve come to the end of my patience with the idea of automatic early release,” he said, but only said he wanted “some process of scrutiny” before prisoners were released, suggesting new checks would be introduced.

He was also asked about possible xenophobia in the wake of the UK’s exit from the EU – and the case under investigation in Norwich, in which a poster demands people living in council flats speak English or move out.

He didn’t appear to be familiar with the case.

“Of course I think it’s a wonderful thing that people should learn English. And people who have been living here a long time should definitely do that and be helped to do that.”

Boris Johnson taking reporters questions (AP) 

Specialists can turn terror offenders around, claims Rory Stewart

The independent London mayoral candidate has been asked about the Streatham attack and what should happen in response.

“You have to have the systems in place in prison and after prison,” he said. “The thing that matters most is specialist counter-terror expertise in prison and in probation to make sure we turn those people around. We don’t have that yet and that’s what we need.”

Ministers to make statement on legislation after Streatham terror attack

Justice secretary Robert Buckland will deliver a statement about 6pm on the incident on Sunday, where Isis supporter Sudesh Amman stabbed passersby before being shot dead by police.

Also to come - statements on Brexit and an update on the Coronavirus outbreak.

EU national parliaments may not get to vote on Brexit trade deal

The national parliaments of EU member states may not be given a vote to approve the EU's Brexit trade deal with the UK, Brussels has indicated.

EU officials said they are "confident" that the scope of the agreement with Britain will be narrow enough that parliaments do not have to be given a vote – but said it might be decided to give them one anyway.

Under EU law, there are two types of trade agreements: "EU-only" deals and "mixed" deals. A deal is "EU-only" if it only covers policy areas that are the responsibility of the EU, while the latter cross into the prerogatives of member states.

Boris Johnson delivers speech in front of bland backdrop

Extraordinary pictures from the PM's speech in the Painted Hall at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich.

In classic No10 style, Johnson spoke in front of a bland backdrop preventing viewers from seeing the ornate surroundings.

Picture by: Frank Augstein/PA Wire/PA Images