Boris Johnson has confirmed the UK has finally secured a post-trade Brexit deal with the European Union after more than four years of negotiations.
Speaking today, the Prime Minister celebrated the agreement, moments after sharing a photo of himself giving a thumbs up on Twitter. He captioned the image, simply: ‘The deal is done.’
Today he stated that the deal with the European Union will ‘protect jobs across this country’ and has meant the UK has ‘taken back control of our laws and our destiny’. He went on to say a points based immigration system would come into force on January 1.
Johnson continued: ‘I’m very pleased to tell you this afternoon that we have completed the biggest trade deal yet, worth £660 billion a year, a comprehensive Canada-style free trade deal between the UK and the EU.
‘A deal that will protect jobs across this country, a deal that will allow goods, UK goods to be sold without tariffs and without quotas in the EU market, a deal which will if anything allow our companies and our exporters to do even more business with our European friends, and yet which achieves something that the people of this country instinctively knew was doable, but which they were told was impossible.
‘We’ve taken back control of our laws and our destiny. We’ve taken back control of every jot and tittle of our regulation in a way that is complete and unfettered.’
Wearing a tie printed with cartoon fish, Johnson accepted that the UK had given ground on access to fishing waters. He said that as a result of the deal the country will be able to ‘catch and eat quite prodigious quantities of extra fish’.
Asked in which areas the UK and EU had conceded, he said: ‘It would be fair to say that we wanted to make sure for instance that we got complete control of our fisheries from the get go and that’s just to say we had annual negotiations on fisheries within the shortest possible delay.
‘The EU began with I think wanting a transition period of 14 years, we wanted three years, we’ve ended up at five years. I think that was a reasonable transition period and I can assure great fish fanatics in this country that we will as a result of this deal be able to catch and eat quite prodigious quantities of extra fish.’
The PM then went on to say he hoped the deal would create a ‘new stability and a new certainty’ in what had sometimes been a ‘fractious and difficult relationship’ between the UK and EU.
Addressing the EU, he said: ‘We will be your friend, your ally, your supporter, and indeed, never let it be forgotten, your number one market. Because although we have left the EU, this country will remain culturally, emotionally, historically, strategically and geologically attached to Europe.’
The agreement comes just days before the transition period ends on December 31 and means the UK will avoid the ‘nightmare’ no-deal scenario countless businesses and experts have warned against.
The Government and the EU have been suggesting for weeks that no deal was the most likely outcome, with particular tensions such as fishing remaining between both sides.
This afternoon the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier thanked those involved in the process of the deal. He said: ‘The clock is no longer ticking. After four years of collective effort and EU unity to preserve peace and stability on the island of Ireland, to protect the citizens and the single market, to build a new partnership with the UK.’
He added: ‘This process has engaged so many citizens, businesses, stakeholders and, obviously, so many journalists. Thank you for your patience and your attention.
‘Today is a day of relief but tinged too by sadness. As we compare what came before with what lies ahead.
‘The UK has chosen to leave the European Union and the single markets, to renounce the benefits and advantages enjoyed by member states, our agreement does not reproduce these rights and benefits, and therefore despite this agreement, there will be real changes in a few days from now.
‘As of first of January, real changes for many citizens, and many businesses, and that is the result of Brexit. But we have also built a new partnership for the future around four pillars.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
