Why Boris Johnson’s Brexit trade deal is not so different to no deal

“From a business preparedness point of view, for many companies there is little difference between preparing to exit the transition period with or without a free-trade agreement in place," said Sam Lowe, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform think tank.

"In the context of businesses now being even less prepared than they would have been otherwise, an implementation period would be essential," Lowe has argued. "However, a new implementation period requires there to be a deal."