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Nadhim Zahawi said the political declaration the EU and UK signed up to when Boris Johnson secured a Brexit deal stated the bloc would speed through trade negotiations to get a deal in place in 2020. The declaration outlines the framework of the future relationship between the two parties and will set the course for the trade negotiations expected to start after the January 31 deadline. While some EU officials suggested a deal cannot be struck witing a year, the Tory Minister told LBC: "If you look at the political declaration that accompanies that withdrawal agreement, this is what I describe as a 'heads of terms'.

"It actually says in there that both sides have already signed up to that we will both together work to deliver a free trade agreement by December 2020. "That's in there very clearly in black and white." While the political declaration has been published alongside the withdrawal agreement Boris Johnson secured in October, the document is not legally binding. He also insisted both the EU and UK have repeatedly signalled they want to strike a free trade agreement after Brexit to avoid the imposition of tariffs and quotas on goods traded across the Channel. JUST IN: Oh dear, Brussels! Boris has ALREADY outsmarted EU negotiators, reveals BBC's Kuenssberg

Nadhim Zahawi said he is

Nadhim Zahawi said the political declaration sets both the UK and EU will work to get a trade deal by 2020

Mr Zahawi continued: "The other thing it says in there is that we will both, the European Union, the 27 countries and the United Kingdom will want to work towards a free trade agreement with no tariffs and no quotas. "And of course, remembering that, you know, for the past 40 years, we've been pretty much aligned with the European Union. "So this is not like us doing a trade deal with a part of the world where we don't have all these advantages in place already." He added: "That's why I'm very confident that we'll be able to do a trade deal by December 2020. READ MORE: How Brussels could wipe Thatcher and Churchill's legacy post-Brexit

Boris Johnson said the passage of his withdrawal agreement makes Brexit "one step closer"

The Withdrawal Agreement Bill (WAB) passed the second reading stage by a 358 to 234 vote

The Brexit Bill is set to enter committee stage in January before passing in the Lords

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