UK prime minister Boris Johnson will spend the next few weeks pressing the European Union to negotiate a better Brexit deal, his office said, while preparing the country to leave the bloc in case he fails.
A messy no-deal divorce is a scenario that has concerned business leaders and weakened the pound since Johnson won the contest to become Britain’s new leader a week ago. Sterling fell to its lowest level against the dollar in more than two years on Monday.
Johnson will travel to a farm in Wales on Tuesday to hear the views of agricultural workers on their hopes for life after leaving the EU as his office said the government will throw itself into negotiations with Brussels.
Speaking before his trip, he said Brexit would allow the UK to scrap the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy and export more food and farm produce around the world when his government is free to sign new trade deals outside the EU.
“Once we leave the EU on 31 October, we will have a historic opportunity to introduce new schemes to support farming – and we will make sure that farmers gets a better deal,’ Johnson said. ‘Brexit presents enormous opportunities for our country, and it’s time we looked to the future with pride and optimism.’
