Boris Johnson dismisses WWII punishment threat from Francois Hollande

Boris Johnson has warned the French president not to hit the UK with a "punishment beating" for Brexit.

The Foreign Secretary said it was not in Francois Hollande's interests to "administer punishment beatings" in the "manner of some World War Two movie" after the president indicated France would not accept better conditions for the UK outside the single market.

It came after the Prime Minister told EU leaders in her key Brexit speech that offering a bad deal to punish the UK for its decision to leave the EU would be "an act of calamitous self-harm".

Taking a tough line on negotiations, Mrs May said if the UK was offered a bad exit deal she would be prepared to move to a low-tax economy to make the country a more attractive place to do business than the EU.

A diplomatic adviser to Mr Hollande responded on Wednesday morning by saying the president would not be prepared to give the UK a better deal outside the single market than in it.

The European Parliament's chief Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt echoed Mr Hollande's view, saying the "days of UK cherry-picking and Europe a la carte are over".

In her speech, Mrs May said that while the UK would leave the single market, she wanted to keep elements of single market agreements for certain areas. She (Munich: SOQ.MU - news) also suggested the UK could remain part of the customs union.

Speaking in India, Mr Johnson said: "If Monsieur Hollande wants to administer punishment beatings to anybody who chooses to escape, rather in the manner of some World War 2 movie, then I don't think that that is they way forward and I don't think it's in the interests of our friends and partners."

EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said on Wednesday he would seek a balanced deal for the UK and the EU.

He said: "I will do everything so that this negotiation ends with a balanced solution while fully respecting our rules."

In her speech on Tuesday, Mrs May also outlined her new vision for a "global Britain" free to strike important free trade deals with other countries, including India.

The Foreign Secretary said Britain could start talking to other countries informally about deals despite still remaining in the EU, and said the UK wanted a new agreement with India.

He said: "We need to turbo charge this relationship with a new free trade deal, such as we will shortly be able to do.

"We can't negotiate it now, but we can sketch it out in pencil on the back of an envelope."

Brexit Secretary David Davis told Sky News earlier that he would make "no apology" for the PM's threat to EU leaders.

But shadow shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer told Sky News Mrs May's threat to the EU to turn the UK into a "tax haven" was an "act of great self harm for which she has absolutely no mandate".

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