Boris Johnson addressed the 109 new Tory MPs in Westminster Hall yesterday. He emphasised to them that seeing Brexit through was a matter of “sacred, sacred trust”

The European Union today shrugged off a plan by Boris Johnson to make it illegal for parliament to extend the Brexit transition period.

Senior EU sources dismissed it as sabre-rattling and said the move was “expected” as part of the prime minister’s political positioning before talks in February. They said setting an 11-month legal deadline to agree a free trade deal would put more constraints on Britain than the rest of Europe.

On Friday the government will table a new clause in the withdrawal agreement bill that would outlaw an extension of the transitional period beyond the end of next year. The emboldened prime minister will also drop concessions that he made to Remainers in the last parliament on areas including workers’ rights.

Michel Barnier,