Advertisement

Boris Johnson 'has just 20 per cent chance of securing Brexit trade deal'

Boris Johnson has slim hopes of signing a deal with European Union to leave the Brexit transition period  - Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images Europe
Boris Johnson has slim hopes of signing a deal with European Union to leave the Brexit transition period - Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images Europe
Chopper's Politics - O'Grady and Jones
Chopper's Politics - O'Grady and Jones

Boris Johnson has as little as a 20 per cent chance of signing a trade deal with the European Union, one of the Conservative party's leading Brexiteers has warned.

David Jones, the vice-chairman of the European Research Group of Tory MPs, said the Prime Minister now has a "20 per cent, 25 per cent" chance of a deal.

His comments came after an eighth week of talks between the UK and EU ended on Thursday night without any breakthrough.

Mr Jones told Chopper's Politics podcast (which you can listen to on the audio player above): "I very much hope that, at the last moment, something will be arrived at – but at the moment it looks pretty strongly in favour of a no deal."

He also claimed the European Union had breached the terms of the political declaration agreed with the UK last year because it had not "respected" the UK's sovereignty during the talks.

He said: "The Withdrawal Agreement is an agreement between two parties, and both have obligations to use best endeavours to negotiate in good faith to achieve a free trade agreement if they can.

"Furthermore, the European Union, in terms of the political declaration, has got to negotiate respecting the sovereignty of the United Kingdom and the integrity of the UK internal market.

"They have not done any of that, and I think it is the EU that is pretty badly in breach of the agreement and that needs to be explained to the wider international community."

  • Listen to David Jones on The Telegraph's weekly political podcast, Chopper's Politics, presented by Chief Political Correspondent Christopher Hope, on the audio player at the top of this article, and subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your preferred podcast app.