The EU and UK may say they will rip each other apart in trade talks – but the truth is much more complicated

Boris Johnson will have to compromise – even if he will want it to look like he hasn’t backed down, writes Andrew Grice

Johnson faces walking a difficult tightrope during the post-Brexit trade talks (AP)

The headlines suggest the talks between the UK and EU on a trade deal will be a bloodbath. “We are going to rip each other apart,” said Jean-Yves Le Drian, the French foreign minister.

David Frost, Boris Johnson’s chief negotiator, will probably return the French fire in a speech in Brussels on Monday night. He will likely say the UK is demanding only the same EU trade terms as Canada, Japan and South Korea, and call for a relationship “based on friendly cooperation between sovereign equals”.

This reflects Johnson’s determination, as one aide put it, that “we will not be a pushover in round two”. The 27 versus one nature of the withdrawal agreement talks allowed the EU to dictate terms. Symbolically, some of the trade negotiations will be held in London as well as Brussels.