The UK Government intends to come up with a new bill that will nullify important parts of the withdrawal agreement with the EU. That’s what the Financial Times writes Based on three anonymous sources. London is thus putting a bomb under the current negotiations on a new trade agreement.

Sources report to the newspaper that the new legislation on the internal market is expected to ‘nullify the legal provisions of parts of the withdrawal agreement’. These would include agreements on state aid and Northern Ireland customs. One of the initiates says that the move “clearly and consciously” will undermine the October agreements on preventing a hard border near Northern Ireland. The British government’s proposal is reported to be published on Wednesday.

In October last year, Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the EU reached an agreement on the conditions for British exit from the EU which took place at the beginning of this year. London and Brussels are now trying to agree on a trade agreement, but it seems that there is little progress.

In a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s office on Sunday, it says that Johnson informs the EU on Monday that 15 October is, as far as he is concerned, the deadline for concluding an agreement. ‘If we cannot agree by then, I do not see that there will be a free trade agreement between us, and we must both accept that and move on’, he will say. “We cannot and do not want to compromise on the basic principles of what it means to be an independent country.”

If no agreement is reached, Britain would have a trade relationship with the EU like that with Australia, which would be ‘a good result’, Johnson goes on to say. “As a government, we prepare ourselves, at our borders and in our ports, to be ready. We will have full control over our laws, our rules and our fishing waters.”

There must be a deal before the end of the year, because then the transition period that started after the brexit will expire. During that transitional period, the United Kingdom still complies with EU rules.