Boris Johnson's 'Australian-style deal' is 'code for no-deal', EU trade chief says

An "Australian-style" Brexit trade deal suggested by Boris Johnson as an option in talks with the EU is just "code for no-deal", the bloc's trade commissioner has said.

Commissioner Phil Hogan noted that there was no existing free trade agreement between Australia and the EU – a fact the prime minister neglected to mention in his speech.

Boris Johnson said the choice in talks was between a trading relationship with the EU "comparable to Canada's" or "more like Australia's".

But asked about the phrase after a speech at a think-tank in Brussels this week, Mr Hogan, Ireland's EU commissioner, said: “We do not have an agreement with Australia. I think that’s code for no deal.”

 ...Speaking at the Centre for European Reform on Tuesday Mr Hogan also warned that “the Brexit debate has been a tyranny over British public life for the last three years”. 

But the Irish commissioner said basic decisions had yet to be made by the UK government, such as “What are you Brexiting from and what are you Brexiting to?”. 

He went on to suggest that British people needed to "stay awake" to hold their government to account.