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Brexit: UK does not need trade deal with EU, cabinet minister claims ahead of PM's speech – live news


Good morning. On Friday night, as the UK was formally leaving the EU, Boris Johnson said he wanted this to be “the start of a new era of friendly cooperation” between Britain and the EU. But less than 72 hours into our new existence as an “independent” state (actually, for the next 11 months the UK is still paying into the EU’s budget, and still bound by EU law, but with no say over what the EU does, so “vassal state” would be a more accurate description), Johnson is now about to give a speech setting conditions for the forthcoming UK-EU trade talks that could potentially poleaxe prospects for wide-ranging deal from the start. As we report in our overnight story, he is going to rule out the UK committing to remaining aligned to EU rules – even though the EU says there will have to be a “level playing field” if the UK wants zero tariff and zero quota access to its markets.

Johnson has ruled out extending the post-Brexit transition beyond the end of 2020 and so, if there is no trade deal, the UK will revert to trading with the EU on WTO terms. This would be much the same as the no-deal Brexit that MPs were so alarmed about in the last parliament (although not exactly the same, because the withdrawal agreement has been passed, and so Northern Ireland and citizens’ rights have been settled). But ministers are refusing to talk about the concept of a no-deal Brexit anymore. In his speech today Johnson will describe this prospect as akin to an Australian-style arrangement. (Australia does not have a free trade deal with the EU, but Britons have a positive view of Australia as a country, and so the concept does not sound as scary as “no deal”). And in an interview this morning on Sky News Rishi Sunak, the chief secretary claimed that “no deal” was no longer a prospect. When asked if it was still on the table, he replied:


No. We have a deal, and we have now left the EU. So that is now just off the table.

Sunak was referring to the withdrawal agreement deal.

But Sunak also confirmed that the UK could leave the transition period without a trade deal with the EU. When the presenter, Kay Burley, put it to him that the UK needed to do a trade deal with the EU, he replied:


We don’t need to. We have left … There are lots of different ways that countries trade with each other. We trade with lots of countries around the world, the EU trades with lots of countries around the world. They trade with some countries as part of the customs union. They trade with other countries, like Canada, through a free trade agreement. And they trade with countries like Australia with specific little agreements here and there for sectors. So there are a range of options we can pursue.

So either we will get a free trade agreement, that we have said that we would like. And that’s what they have offered in the past, so I’m hopeful that they make good on that. Or else we will trade on the basis of the terms that are already negotiated, like Australia and like many other countries. But either way I think people should feel very confident about our future.

This contradicts what Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister in charge of no deal planning, was saying just after the general election. He said on 15 December he was certain there would be a trade deal.

Sunak also insisted that trade was not the only factor that would decide whether the UK economy prospered in the future. He told Burley:


Trade is important, of course it is. But it’s only one part of what’s going to drive our economy forward. All the other things we are doing to invest in infrastructure, R&D, education, to unite and level up across the country, all those things are going to make a tangible difference to people’s quality of life over the coming years as well.

There will be a lot more on this as the day goes on. Here is the agenda.

10am (UK time): Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, holds a press conference to mark the publication of the EU’s draft negotiating guidelines for the proposed UK-EU trade deal. Originally this was supposed to happen at 11am, but Barnier seems to have brought the timing forward so it does not clash with Johnson’s speech.

Daniel Ferrie
(@DanielFerrie)

???? @MichelBarnier will present the draft negotiating directives for the future relationship negotiations with the #UK at 11:00 CET today @EU_Commission. Watch live here: https://t.co/To28pGgcPn pic.twitter.com/KfWevoldCm


February 3, 2020

11am: Boris Johnson gives a speech on the UK’s priorities for the proposed UK-EU trade deal.

1.30pm: Sir Keir Starmer, favourite in the Labour leadership contest, takes part in a webchat on Mumsnet.

After 3.30pm: Priti Patel, the home secretary, is expected to make a Commons statement on the government’s response to the Streatham terror attack.

After 4.30pm: Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, is expected to make a Commons statement on the UK-EU trade talks.

As usual, I will be covering breaking political news as it happens, as well as bringing you the best reaction, comment and analysis from the web, although I will be focusing mostly on Brexit, and on the speeches from Johnson and Barnier. I plan to post a summary when I wrap up.

We are covering political reaction to the Streatham terror attack on a separate live blog. You can read it here.

You can read all the latest Guardian politics articles here. Here is the Politico Europe roundup of this morning’s political news. And here is the PoliticsHome list of today’s top 10 must-reads.

If you want to follow me or contact me on Twitter, I’m on @AndrewSparrow.

I try to monitor the comments below the line (BTL) but it is impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, do include “Andrew” in it somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I do try to answer questions, and if they are of general interest, I will post the question and reply above the line (ATL), although I can’t promise to do this for everyone.

If you want to attract my attention quickly, it is probably better to use Twitter.





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