Free trade deals could take years

0 Greg Hands said deals may not be made immediately Philip Hammond have said Britain will leave the single market and customs union by the exit date.

Both also agree that a transitional deal is likely to be required to avoid a “cliff edge” for businesses, with Mr Davis saying it would probably last until 2022 and Mr Hammond suggesting it could take longer.

But Mr Hands could not say when the UK would be free to strike trade deals, suggesting the issue could form part of negotiations over new tradingarrangementswiththeeu.

He said Britain’s position to leave the single market and customs union and then strike a comprehensive free trade deal was “unchanged”.

But asked if it would happen when the UK leaves the EU by 29 March, 2019, he told the BBC Sunday Politics show: “That’s obviously the negotiation that has just started. I am not putting an end date on that. What I am saying is the objective in this is to make sure that we have frictionless trade with the European Union and come to a future customs arrangement.”

Mr Hands spoke after a source close to Boris Johnson insisted the Foreign Secretary backs the Prime Minister’s Brexit plan “100 per cent” despite claims he could welcome an easing-up on her “red lines” for negotiations.

Mr Davis’s former chief of staff James Chapman said Mrs May’s insistence on leaving the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) had “hamstrung” his ex-boss.