Britain not threatening to 'tear up' Withdrawal Agreement: UK minister

Greg Hands

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain is not threatening to “tear up” the Withdrawal Agreement that it signed with the European Union in January said UK trade policy minister Greg Hands on Friday, as the row between the two sides continues.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government has refused to revoke a plan that will break the divorce treaty even though Brussels says it could sink four years of talks.

“It’s not threatening to tear up the treaty. We’re not looking to retreat from our protocol commitments, this is a clarification in case there’s no further negotiated outcome,” Hands told Sky News.

He said that a trade deal between the UK and Japan reached on Friday showed that trading partners were still keen to do deals with the UK.