Brexit secretary says UK will set out trade talk aims by early February

The UK will set out its negotiating aims for trade talks with the EU by early February and will not diverge from Brussels’ rules for the sake of it, Steve Barclay has said.

The Brexit secretary, whose job will become defunct when the UK leaves the EU on 31 January, set a more moderate tone than some of his colleagues who insist the UK will be looking for no alignment with the EU after Brexit.

Speaking on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, he said the broad aims for trade talks would be set out within the next month, with Boris Johnson expected to make a speech revealing his approach.

Barclay said: “The key issue is that we will have control of our rules, we will not be a rule-taker, we will not diverge for the sake of diverging, we start from a position of alignment. But the key opportunity is that we will be able to set our standards, high standards, on workers’ rights, on the environment, on state aid as part of that trade policy.”

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Source: The Guardian