London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Sunday, Oct 05, 2025

Johnson Claims Brexit Victory Over EU as Spin Battle Begins

Johnson Claims Brexit Victory Over EU as Spin Battle Begins

The Brexit deal may not be signed yet, but Boris Johnson’s government has already started trying to sell it at home, claiming victory over the European Union.

An internal British analysis, first reported by the Guido Fawkes website and confirmed by a U.K. official, claims 28 “wins” for the U.K., 11 for the EU, and 26 areas where the two sides compromised. But, in several cases, what the U.K. describes as a “win” doesn’t accurately compare with both sides’ opening demands.

For Johnson, a deal is both a political victory and a problem. Even though he won a large majority at last year’s election under the slogan “Get Brexit Done,” he still needs Parliament to approve any accord. Many pro-Brexit Tories have waited years for Britain to break free of what they see as the EU’s shackles and are wary of any compromise with the bloc that could limit the U.K.’s freedom of action in future.

An initial version of the document contained a list of pledges made by the 2016 “Vote Leave” pro-Brexit campaign and how the deal fulfilled them, a clear sign of Johnson’s team trying to convince his party that he had delivered his Brexit promises. That section has subsequently been removed.

The document says the U.K. has been able to escape the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice -- meeting one of the key demands of Conservative euro-skeptics. The U.K. is also claiming victory on issues from trade remedies, to technical barriers to trade and customs facilitation. Fisheries, where the government has agreed to an annual quota system after a five-and-a-half year transition period, is classed as a compromise.

Services Loss?


However, a simple tally of the negotiating issues doesn’t account for their overall importance, and some of the issues where the EU is deemed to have “won” are economically sensitive for Britain. Workers in the services industry, which makes up 80% of Britain’s economy, won’t have their professional qualifications automatically recognized in the EU. That means professions such as architecture, accountancy and consulting will be harder to sell in to the bloc.

The U.K. also won’t get a Japan-style deal for financial services it was looking for, which would have allowed for greater regulatory cooperation. The U.K. industry generates about 7% of Britain’s GDP. But the document claims Britain has avoided the so-called headnote, which would allow the EU to restrict the outsourcing of financial services.

Other areas claimed as a “win” by the U.K. don’t accurately reflect the two sides’ initial negotiating positions. On rules of origin -- which determine what inputs a good must contain to qualify for tariff-free trade -- the U.K. said it has achieved a win by securing so-called bilateral cumulation. That means inputs from both the U.K. and EU count toward the tariff-free threshold. But the U.K.’s opening ask was more ambitious: It wanted inputs from third countries with which it has a free trade agreement, such as Japan or Canada, to be included.

Another area where the U.K. has given ground is on product standards, according to the document. The deal doesn’t include any mutual recognition of conformity assessment, which would have allowed the British to certify goods for the EU market, meaning firms will have to pay the regulatory cost of certification twice if they wish to sell their products in both the U.K. and the bloc. Companies may also have to run separate production lines to comply with separate standards.

JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s chief U.K. economist, Malcolm Barr, offered a different assessment from the British government.

“The EU appears to have secured a deal which allows it to retain nearly all of the advantages it derives from its trading relationship with the U.K., while giving it the ability to use regulatory structures to cherry pick among the sectors where the U.K. had previously enjoyed advantages in the trading relationship,” Barr said in a research note.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
×