Brexit Secretary David Davis expects Government to last five years
The Brexit Secretary also tells business leaders in Washington that Britain will not embrace isolationism after leaving the EU.
Friday 1 September 2017 18:02, UK
David Davis has said he expects the Government to last a full five-year term, but declined to confirm that Theresa May would "write the final chapter in Brexit".
The Brexit Secretary addressed the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington, shortly after returning from what he admitted had been a "tense" .
Mr Davis conceded Britain had been put under pressure to resolve the issue of the divorce bill, which EU negotiators insist is agreed upon before talks can move on to the next phase, including the crucial future trade relationship.
But he would not be drawn on an interview by his cabinet colleague Liam Fox, who on Friday morning accused EU officials of Britain over the bill.
Mr Davis said he would not comment on the views of other ministers, but said: "We are in a difficult and tough, complicated negotiation.
"I have said from the beginning, it will be turbulent. What we're having at the moment is the first ripple and there will be many more ripples along the way."
Asked how long the current Government would remain in power, and whether Mrs May would "be able to write the final chapter in Brexit", Mr Davis said it was "my expectation" that the Government would last five years, due to the Fixed Term Parliaments Act which made it difficult to have an early election.
In fact, the Act was easily overridden by the Prime Minister to call the snap election in June, by calling a vote in the House of Commons.
The Brexit Secretary did not mention Mrs May's stated plans, in interviews from Japan on Thursday, to fight the next election. But he insisted the Brexit negotiating timetable was on track, saying: "There is a majority to carry through Brexit in the UK Parliament and it will get done. It will get done in time."
The speech to business leaders was a staunch defence of free trade - and in particular a UK-US trade deal - as the way to tackle the "greatest social and economic challenges" facing the world.
In comments seen as a veiled warning to the Trump administration, he cautioned against a lurch towards protectionism and trade barriers as a response to the downsides of globalisation - a theme taken up by both Donald Trump and Mrs May.
He said: "My message is clear: the answer to these challenges is not to turn inwards and become isolationist. The answer to the economic problems of the West cannot be to turn our back on globalisation and trade - it's to lead the world forward once again."
But he conceded that while negotiations with the US on a trade deal could begin when Britain officially leaves the EU in March 2019, it could not be signed until Britain has agreed the terms of its future relationship with the bloc, which ministers concede could take another four year "transition period".
In his speech, Mr Davis also tried to reassure a domestic and European audience that Britain would not engage in a "regulatory race-to-the-bottom" by slashing quality standards or wages, in order to compete with emerging economies such as China.
The Brexit Secretary painted an optimistic picture of Britain's future outside the EU, and reiterated the Government's desire to agree trade and customs arrangements with the bloc which are as "seamless and frictionless" as possible.
He said: "There are many that doubt this is possible but when I spoke to my European counterpart Michel Barnier I said to him once: 'The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity, the optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty'.
"And as ever on that front I am a determined optimist in this - we will get to those opportunities. Because fundamentally I believe that a good deal is in the interests of both the United Kingdom and the European Union and of the entire global community."
Mr Davis returned from the third round of exit talks in Brussels on Thursday, insisting at a terse news conference that "some concrete progress" had been made - only for Mr Barnier to retort that he thought there had been "no decisive progress" on the key issues of the divorce bill, the rights of EU citizens and the Northern Ireland border.