A trade graphic produced by the EU went against standard practice, an expert said

The EU has been accused of exaggerating the scale of trade with Britain as it pushed back against Boris Johnson’s demands for a Canada-style trade deal.

In a clash described as the war of the slides, No 10 published a graphic produced by the EU in 2017 which suggested that a Canada-style trade deal was the only one available. “What’s changed,” Downing Street tweeted.

The EU argues that Britain is too big a trading partner and too close for the bloc to agree such a deal without guarantees that the UK will not undercut European standards.

A bubble representing trade volume with the UK on an EU graphic was 16 times bigger than that relating to Japan. The official figures suggest it should be four