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Davis: UK will be able to do trade deals during Brexit transition David Davis to give trade deals pledge amid Brexit row
(about 2 hours later)
The UK will be able to negotiate and sign trade deals as soon as it leaves the EU in March 2019, says David Davis. David Davis will insist the UK will be able to negotiate trade deals as soon as it leaves the EU in March 2019 later, amid a Tory party row over the government's approach to Brexit.
The Brexit secretary is due to give a speech about his aims for the post-Brexit implementation period, thought likely to last up to two years. On Thursday, Chancellor Philip Hammond called for changes in the EU relationship to be "very modest".
The UK would still effectively follow the rules of the EU customs union for the period and no trade deals could come into force until it ends. But Eurosceptic MP Jacob Rees-Mogg accused UK negotiators of being "cowed by the EU".
Mr Davis has already predicted "there may well be an argument" on the issue. No 10 has distanced itself from the chancellor's comments.
He told MPs on Wednesday: "There are people within the union who want to restrict any advantage for us." A Downing Street spokesman said: "While we want a deep and special economic partnership with the EU after we leave, these could not be described as very modest changes."
The UK is in the process of leaving the European Union. The day set for Brexit is 29 March, 2019, so the UK is expected to negotiate its own trade deals in future, rather than being part of the deals drawn up on behalf of all EU member states. The UK is due to leave the European Union on 29 March 2019, after which the UK is expected to negotiate its own trade deals, rather than being part of the deals drawn up on behalf of all EU member states.
But a time-limited transitional or "implementation" period is expected to come into force to cover the period after Brexit, before the terms of the UK's ultimate relationship with the EU have been finalised, to avoid a "cliff edge" for businesses. But a time-limited transitional or "implementation" period - thought likely to last up to two years - is expected to come into force first, before the terms of the UK's ultimate relationship with the EU have been finalised, to avoid a "cliff edge" for businesses.
In a speech in Middlesbrough, Mr Davis will say: "As an independent country, no longer a member of the European Union - the United Kingdom will once again have its own trading policy. In a speech in Middlesbrough later, Mr Davis will say that the UK would still effectively follow the rules of the EU customs union for the period and no trade deals could come into force until it ends.
"As an independent country, no longer a member of the European Union - the United Kingdom will once again have its own trading policy," he will say.
"For the first time in more than 40 years, we will be able to step out and sign new trade deals with old friends, and new allies, around the globe.""For the first time in more than 40 years, we will be able to step out and sign new trade deals with old friends, and new allies, around the globe."
"Of course, maintaining access to each other's markets on current terms means we will replicate the effects of the EU customs union during the implementation period.
"But participating in a customs union should not preclude us from formally negotiating - or indeed signing - trade agreements. Although, of course, they would not enter into force until the implementation period has ended."
He is also expected to say the UK wants to stay in the EU's existing trade deals with other countries - although there is no guarantee Brussels will agree.He is also expected to say the UK wants to stay in the EU's existing trade deals with other countries - although there is no guarantee Brussels will agree.
On Thursday, US President Donald Trump predicted there would be a "tremendous increase" in UK-US trade in years to come, adding: "We look forward to that and we are starting that process, pretty much as we speak." 'Welcome to the next phase'
By BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg
The Brexit process never went away. But the beavering of officials has rather less political intrigue to it than the interventions of the Brexit big beasts.
Well, nipping in before the EU publishes its official approach to part two of the saga on Monday, David Davis will tomorrow have a big moment of his own.
Ministers have, after vigorous lobbying from business, accepted that not very much will change as the clock strikes midnight on Brexit day.
The PM has already made clear that we will broadly accept the existing rules and regulations, and ministers agree that although we will officially be outside the Single Market free trade area and the Customs Union, we'll replicate those arrangements so that industry isn't dealing with dramatic overnight change.
But the more precise nature of the period between 2019 and 2021 is not that clear. And there is brewing anxiety among Theresa May's Brexiteer base that what was billed originally as an implementation phase, where we move from one system to another, will be more like two years stuck in aspic.
Read more from Laura Kuenssberg's blog here.
'Stick to script''Stick to script'
Mr Davis will also say the fastest-growing export destinations between 2005 and 2014 included China and Brazil and will say as an "independent trading nation" the UK will be "able to do so much more with them". Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday, Chancellor Philip Hammond said the UK and EU economies were already "completely interconnected and aligned" and the UK was not seeking an "off-the-shelf" model to replace its membership of the EU single market and customs union.
Meanwhile Chancellor Philip Hammond's comments at the Davos World Economic Forum, that he hopes the UK and EU economies will only move "very modestly" apart after Brexit have come in for some criticism from Tory backbenchers. Meanwhile, Mr Rees-Mogg, who has recently become the chairman of the European Research Group of Tory MPs, called for a fundamental change in ministers' tone on Brexit.
Eurosceptic Tory MP Bernard Jenkin told the BBC: "I think it would be much easier for the prime minister to do her job if everyone just stuck to her script and I think that is what he should do." The Eurosceptic backbencher - who also questions whether any transition period would allow the UK to leave the EU in 2019 - said a "close alignment" with the EU after Brexit would be unacceptable and warned against Brexit being treated like a "damage limitation exercise".
People "did not vote for the management of decline", he said, adding: "They voted for hope and opportunity and politicians must now deliver it."
Other Conservative colleagues also took to social media to show their dismay at the chancellor's comments.
Andrew Percy told Mr Hammond to "put a sock in it" on Instagram, accusing him of "writing his own Brexit policy.
Whilst Connor Burns took a more subtle dig on his Twitter account:
Bernard Jenkin told the BBC: "I think it would be much easier for the prime minister to do her job if everyone just stuck to her script and I think that is what he should do."
And a cabinet source said: "The UK is leaving the EU - the sooner Hammond realises that the better. Very modest changes are not what the 52% voted for."And a cabinet source said: "The UK is leaving the EU - the sooner Hammond realises that the better. Very modest changes are not what the 52% voted for."
The UK hopes to agree terms for the transitional period with the EU by the end of March, so talks can focus on the permanent post-Brexit relationship. Mr Hammond later took to Twitter himself to say he was "clear" that the UK would leave both the single market and customs union after Brexit.
Some Eurosceptic MPs have expressed concern that a transition period will mean the UK will not be properly leaving the EU in March 2019. There was better news for the government in Davos, with US President Donald Trump predicting a "tremendous increase" in UK-US trade in years to come.
Jacob Rees-Mogg said in a speech on Thursday that UK Brexit negotiators "seemed to have been cowed by the EU" and warned that "close alignment" with the EU after Brexit would be unacceptable. "We look forward to that and we are starting that process, pretty much as we speak," he said.
Mr Davis favours a transition period of between 21 and 28 months, while the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier has suggested it should not last beyond December 2020 - 21 months after the UK is due to leave.