British PM Johnson: Trade deal is up to the EU

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Friday it was up to the European Union whether the two sides reached a trade agreement, calling on Brussels to use common sense to hand Britain a similar deal to the one it did with Canada.

Talking to BBC regional journalists, Johnson said: “I hope that we get a deal, it’s up to our friends … They’ve done a deal with Canada of a kind that we want – why shouldn’t they do it with us? We’re so near, we’ve been members for 45 years. It’s all there, it’s just up to them.”

He added that there was “every chance to get a deal”, adding: “It’s up to our friends and partners to be commonsensical.”