Guardian: No 10 plays down prospect of UK-US trade deal being ready for when Brexit happens

Date: 16 01 2017

No 10 plays down prospect of UK-US trade deal being ready for when Brexit happens

I’m just back from the Number 10 lobby briefing. These are probably the two best lines.

• Number 10 reaffirmed Philip Hammond’s threat that the government could slash business taxes in the UK if the EU failed to offer a good Brexit deal.

• Downing Street played down the prospects of a trade deal with the US being signed as soon as the UK leaves the EU.

Richard Tice, the co-chair of Leave Means Leave, has just told BBC News that it is “nonsense”, legally and practically, for Number 10 to argue that the UK cannot start formal trade talks with the US while it remains a member of the EU.