David Davis warns EU cannot 'cherry pick' terms of future trade deal
2 min read
David Davis has kicked off the New Year with a warning to the European Commission not to "cherry pick" the future EU-UK economic relationship.
The Brexit Secretary suggested there could be a trading relationship based on "mutual recognition", with EU and British regulators working together to ensure continued "barrier-free goods trade" after Brexit.
Writing in this morning's Daily Telegraph he said: "I do not believe the strength of this cooperation needs change because we leaving the European Union, so long as it is understood that this involves working together, not simply rule taking. These principles can be applied to services trade too.
"Given the strength and breadth of our links, a deal which took in some areas of our economic relationship but not others would be, in the favoured phrase of EU diplomats, cherry picking."
He also warned that the upcoming talks on the transition period and the future trade relationship would "produce the same public thunder and lightning that we have seen in the past year".
Elsewhere, the Sun reports that Mr Davis will try to get on the front foot with a major speech on his Brexit plans, aimed at silencing his internal critics.
Recent reports have suggested he could face the sack in an upcoming reshuffle, with Boris Johnson among the names touted as a possible successor.
RESHUFFLE?
Meanwhile the same paper reports that junior education minister Anne Milton could be in line for a promotion to Health Secretary in a New Year shake-up of Theresa May's ministerial team.
The Prime Minister has been forced into at least a mini-reshuffle by the departure of Damian Green last month.
“The reshuffle is going to be more than one in one out and it's a good time to be a woman in the lower ministerial ranks," a Whitehall source told the paper.
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