On Friday, January 31, at 11pm Britain formally left the EU.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has insisted that he has not banned the use of the word Brexit but that it is ‘receding behind us in history’, writes Harriet Line, PA.

The Prime Minister did not use the term describing the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union at all during his 3,400 word speech on ‘unleashing Britain’s potential’.

Following the speech in Greenwich, Mr Johnson was asked whether the term “Brexit” had been banned.

He replied: “It’s not banned, it’s just over. It has happened.

“It is like the glorious revolution that preceded the events chronicled above.

“It is gone — I won’t say it’s like the Big Bang or the Norman conquest — but it is receding behind us in history and that’s the approach we should take to it.”

Britain left the EU on Friday, but has now entered an 11-month long transition period during which it will attempt to strike a free trade deal with the bloc.

The Prime Minister used his speech in Greenwich, south-east London, to stress his commitment to free trade — and signal his determination to secure an arrangement with Brussels along the lines of that agreed between the EU and Canada.

“There is no need for a free trade agreement to involve accepting EU rules on competition policies, subsidies, social protection, the environment or anything similar, any more than the EU should be obliged to accept UK rules,” he said. “The UK will maintain the highest standards in these areas, better in many respects than those of the EU, without the compulsion of a treaty.”

Downing Street said the UK will agree to some regulatory alignment with the EU, as Canada has done, but would not accept alleged breaches being ruled on by the European Court of Justice.

Mr Johnson confirmed that if a Canada-style agreement was not possible, he would be prepared to walk away without a full trade deal, like Australia’s relationship with the EU.

“The question is whether we agree a trading relationship with the EU comparable to Canada’s or more like Australia’s and I have no doubt that in either case the UK will prosper mightily,” he said.

Mr Johnson insisted that leaving on the far looser terms would be an “unlikely event”, which he claimed was “emphatically” not a no-deal scenario.

However, it would leave the UK trading with the EU under the high tariffs set by the World Trade Organisation, though side deals could be struck to ensure areas such as aviation can run smoothly.

Number 10 was claiming a no-deal Brexit was now “an irrelevant concept” because of the Withdrawal Agreement in place, though that falls far short of being a trade deal.

- What are your thoughts? Write to us: [email protected]