Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to tell the president of the European Commission that he is ready to walk away from the EU without a trade deal at the end of the transition period.
Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the EU’s powerful executive arm, is in the UK for talks with the prime minister on Wednesday.
A Downing Street spokesman told The Times: “He will tell President Von der Leyen that, having waited for over three years to get Brexit done, both British and EU citizens rightly expect negotiations on an ambitious free trade agreement to conclude on time.”
Prime Minister Johnson is also expected to tell Mrs von der Leyen that he will not sign a deal that would force the UK to agree to abide by EU regulations, with a Downing Street spokesman saying he “will likely underline that the upcoming negotiations will be based on an ambitious FTA [free trade agreement], not on alignment”.
The remarks come as the outgoing governor of the Bank of England said that Brexit Britain should not follow Brussels on financial regulations.