PM DODGES NEW BREXIT ACCUSATION
BORIS Johnson sidestepped accusations from European leaders that he is on course to deliver a “harder Brexit” after his thumping General Election win. The Prime Minister appeared to set himself up for combative trade talks in the new year after ruling out adhering to Brussels’ rules after 2020 when the transition period ends.
He altered his own Brexit Bill this week to make it unlawful for the Government to extend the trade talks into 2021, giving negotiators an unprecedented 11 months to thrash out a free trade deal.
Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar warned that Mr Johnson looked embarked on a “harder Brexit than we anticipated” and said he feared the UK wanted to “undercut” its European rivals on food, health and product safety after exit day.
The EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier, in an article for the Project Syndicate website, similarly said competition on social and environmental standards between UK and the EU bloc would “lead only to a race to the bottom”.
Mr Johnson was asked about the
Taoiseach’s comments while visiting British troops in Estonia yesterday, but dodged answering directly.
He replied: “What everybody wants to do is put Brexit behind us on January 31 and move on, and there’s a lot of goodwill and a lot of energy now about building the new deep and special partnership, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
The Conservative Party leader said there had been a “positive feeling” during his bilateral meeting with Estonian Prime Minister Juri Ratas in the capital Tallinn.
Mr Johnson also spoke with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Saturday, and Downing Street said the pair discussed negotiating an “ambitious trade agreement” after Britain leaves the EU.
The PM told MPs on Friday that the “oven was on” when it came to delivering Brexit next year, but said there would be “no alignment” to EU rules during any post-exit free trade deal.
“This will be with no alignment on EU rules, but instead with control of our own laws, and close and friendly relations,” he told those on the green benches.
He made the comments after seeing his European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill passed by a 124 majority by MPs, paving the way for the UK to finalise its divorce from Brussels by the January 31 deadline.
Meanwhile, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace warned serving personnel to be braced for cutbacks as part of his bid to secure more long-term investment in defence.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Political Thinking podcast, the Cabinet minister said the armed forces would need to “cut our cloth to match our ambition” in order to secure fresh funding for innovative technology.
Asked about the comments, the PM said: “We’re the second biggest player in Nato, we’re the biggest military in Europe - we believe in supporting our armed services.
“Obviously we do that in an efficient way, but as you know we’re increasing our budget by £2.2 billion.”