British election: Boris Johnson takes tough new line on Brexit trade talks

Boris Johnson will redraw his Brexit bill to make it ­illegal for the British parliament to extend the transition period.

The class of 2019 … Boris Johnson with newly elected Conservative MPs in the Palace of Westminster in London. Picture: AFP

Boris Johnson will redraw his Brexit bill this week to make it ­illegal for the British parliament to extend the transition period — a move that will put him in direct conflict with Brussels.

In one of his first acts since the election, the emboldened Prime Minister will also drop concessions that he made to Remainers in the last parliament on areas includin­g workers’ rights.

But it is the new clause in the withdrawal agreement bill to outlaw an extension of the transition period beyond the end of next year that will be most eye-catching.

Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, has warned that striking a “comprehensive” free-trade deal between Britain and the EU 11 months after Brexit will not be possible.

The concerns are shared by some senior figures in Mr Johnson’s cabinet, who fear that a “bare bones” trade deal could damage the economy. The Prime Minister has insisted that he will be able to strike a “fantastic” free-trade deal by December next year.

The move dispels speculation that with his 80-strong majority Mr Johnson would tack to a softer Brexit and extend the transition period because he would not be so beholden to Eurosceptic Tories. He will also scrap concessions he had made to placate MPs on the other side of the debate.

He will ditch amendments that would have given MPs oversight of negotiations for a post-Brexit trade deal and assurances that there would be no “regression” over workers’ rights. The Commons will no longer be given a vote on extending the transition period.

Mr Johnson addressed the new intake of 109 Tory MPs in Westminster Hall on their first day in parliament. He told them: “We’ve got to deliver now. (It’s about) ­sacred, sacred trust.”

He told them they had changed the face of the Conservative Party, adding: “You come from places that the Conservative Party has not been represented in for 100 years — if ever.”

A Downing Street source said: “Last week the public voted for a government that would get Brexit done and move this country forward — and that’s exactly what we intend to do, starting this week.

“Our manifesto made clear that we will not extend the implement­ation period and the new withdrawal agreement bill will legally prohibit government from agreeing to any extension.”

The Prime Minister also exerted his new authority by announcing that Nicky Morgan, who stood down at the election, would be elevat­ed to the Lords and reappoint­ed as culture secretary. She will hold the post until a reshuffl­e in February.

This will add to speculation that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport could be broken up, with the digital and broadband parts of the portfolio transferred to a new economic super-ministry. The move will form part of a wider reform of Whitehall under which the Department for International Development would be folded into the Foreign Office and the Department for Exiting the European Union abolished.

Zac Goldsmith, who failed to hold his Richmond Park seat last Thursday, is also expected to be ­elevated to the Lords so that he can resume as environment minister until the bigger reshuffle can be carried out.

Under the terms of the treaty that Mr Johnson made with Brussels in October, Britain and the EU can agree jointly to extend the transition period for one or two years before a deadline of July 1 next year. The Conservative manifesto­, however, made an explici­t commitment that Mr Johnson’s government “will not extend the implementation period beyond 2020”.

The Prime Minister’s decision to enshrine that pledge in law would make an agreement to ­extend the transition period ­illegal. MPs will vote on Friday on the second reading of the new EU withdrawal agreement bill, which sets out how Britain leaves.

Mr Barnier told diplomats ­recently: “With regards to this agreement, we will not get everything done in 11 months.

“We will do all we can — we won’t do it all. It is unrealistic that a global negotiation can be done in 11 months. We will do all we can to get what I call the ‘vital minimum’ to establish a relationship with the UK if that is the timescale.”

The Times