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#Brexit talks: UK prepared to walk away in June if no progress

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The UK has warned the EU it will walk away from trade talks in June unless there is a "broad outline" of a deal.

Michael Gove told MPs the UK wanted to strike a "comprehensive free trade agreement" in 10 months.

But the government would not accept any alignment with EU laws as the EU is demanding, with Mr Gove adding: "We will not trade away our sovereignty."

The EU has already set out its priorities ahead of the formal start of the talks on Monday.

The government has published a 30-page document outlining its priorities for the talks.

The UK document says:

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  • The UK "will not negotiate any arrangements in which the UK does not have control of its own laws and political life"
  • The UK's aim is for a trading relationship with the EU similar to the ones the 27-nation bloc has with Canada, Japan and South Korea
  • There will be no jurisdiction for EU law or the European Court of Justice in the UK
  • The UK will rely on World Trade Organization rules under an arrangement with the EU similar to Australia's if progress on a comprehensive deal cannot be made
  • A separate agreement on fisheries is needed, to reflect the fact that "the UK will be an independent coastal state at the end of 2020"
  • The government wants to agree a "broad outline" of a deal with the EU "capable of being rapidly finalised by September" in the next four months
  • If that does not happen it will decide whether to switch focus to leaving on WTO terms at the end of December

The UK officially left the EU at the end of January, but is continuing to abide by many EU rules while talks on a permanent trading relationship take place.

Johnson has pledged to get a deal with the EU by the end of the so-called transition period - 31 December 2020 - and has said he is not prepared to extend that deadline.

The UK's negotiating team will be led by Mr Johnson's Europe adviser David Frost.

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