Boris Johnson berated over Article 50 claim

Boris Johnson has been berated over his claim that Article 50 would be triggered in early 2017 and that Brexit negotiations could be completed within two years.

The Foreign secretary told Sky News on Thursday that ministers would be able to set plans and the principles for leaving the European Union early next year.

However, Johnson was reportedly snubbed by Prime Minister Theresa May who said she and her ministers would not give “a running commentary” on a Brexit deal or what the process might look like.

May previously said she would not trigger Article 50 this year and refused to say when she will begin exit proceedings with trading block, to the dismay of some.

A Downing Street spokesperson said: “The government’s position has not changed – we will not trigger Article 50 before the end of 2016 and we are using this time to prepare for the negotiations.”

Downing Street said May did not have a calendar for triggering Article 50, the clause of the Lisbon treaty which sets a two-year period for negotiating with the EU.

Johnson, who campaigned for Leave during the campaign after much deliberation, has teamed up with Brexit secretary David Davis and international trade secretary Liam Fox, who are keen for a ‘hard Brexit’ - taking Britain out the customs union and single market and restrict the free movement of people.

He told Sky News: “We are talking to our European friends and partners in the expectation that by the early part of next year we will see an Article 50 letter.”

“We will invoke that, and in that letter I’m sure we will be setting out some parameters for how we propose to take this forward – principles.”

Johnson added that Britain will benefit from the “fantastic opportunities for greater free trade with our friends in the EU.

“It’s overwhelmingly in their interests. Not only do we buy more German cars than anybody else, we drink more Italian wine than any other country in Europe, 300m litres of Prosecco every year. They’re not going to put that at risk.”

He rebuked claims from the EU that the country would have to choose between restricting the free movement of people and access to the single market.

“They would have us believe that there is some automatic trade-off between what they call access to the single market and free movement. Complete baloney. Absolute baloney.

“The two things have nothing to do with each other. We should go for a jumbo free trade deal and take back control of our immigration policy.”

The government also had to deny that May told European Council president Donald Tusk that she had told him that Article 50 would be triggered in January or February next year.

Brexit negotiations could further be convoluted by elections in France, Germany and the Netherlands in 2017 and the upcoming constitutional referendum in Italy expected this year.