Boris Johnson softens his stance on leaving the Brexit transition period without a trade deal

BORIS Johnson has softened his stand on leaving the Brexit transition period without a new trade deal in place with the EU.

No10 has repeatedly insisted there would be no extension to the standstill period that ends in December 2020.

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It was agreed to avoid a cliff edge after the UK’s exit from Brussels, and can be extended by a further two years.

But the PM yesterday refused to repeat his former hard line, in a suspected bid to soften his appeal to Labour and Lib Dem voters.

Asked to rule out any transition extension, Mr Johnson would instead only say: “I see no reason whatever why we should extend the transition period.”

He explained: “We start our negotiations in a state of perfect alignment. So the negotiations, in principle, should be extremely simple.”

KEEPING HIS CARDS CLOSE

Another Cabinet minister also yesterday refused to declare that No Deal is still on the table in future negotiations with the EU.

Quizzed on whether the threat will still be in the Tories’ election manifesto, Treasury Chief Secretary

Rishi Sunak said: “We’ve got a deal.

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"Our message to the British people is we’re trying very hard to deliver that deal”.

Downing Street aides insisted Mr Johnson just wanted to keep his negotiating cards close to his chest.

A No10 insider said: “We don’t want to box ourselves in. That’s the lesson we learned on the negotiation for a new deal.”

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