Boris Johnson met Sebastian Kurz, the Austrian chancellor, in Downing Street and told him that the UK would “not accept any demands to follow EU law” and pledged to uphold “our very high standards”

Britain and the European Union warned each other yesterday that they would walk away from talks on a Brexit trade deal unless the other side gave way on their red lines.

Amid diplomatic sparring before the start of formal negotiations next week, Downing Street accused Brussels of hypocrisy in demanding concessions from the UK that it had not requested from other trade partners.

No 10 added that any attempt to force Britain to follow EU state aid laws or social and environmental regulations would be categorically rejected.

In Brussels Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator, insisted that such “level playing field” provisions were a prerequisite to any agreement. “We will not conclude negotiations at any cost,” he said. “The trade agreement will be