Boris Johnson can’t name a single trade deal ‘oven-ready’ for post-Brexit Britain

A caller to Nick Ferrari’s LBC show, where Johnson was taking questions, was told by Johnson only: “We’ve got talks under way with many countries.”

He said there were a number of “oven-ready” deals done, but couldn’t give any details or specific numbers.

He said: “There are a number that are oven-ready. I will have to come back and give you the number.”

Asked by presenter Ferrari if he knew how many, Johnson said: “There will be … I imagine, we have about a dozen we are currently working on.”

Asked to name four of the countries, Johnson identified “ample opportunities to do deals with India, China, Australia, New Zealand”, but added: “I am not going to say they are ‘oven-ready’.”

Johnson repeated his promise to have a trade deal with the EU finished by the end of 2020.

He said: “We’ve set a deadline of the end of next year and I see no reason to go beyond that deadline.”