LONDON • British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to say he is prepared to quit talks with the European Union over Britain's future trade relationship with the bloc if he does not get his way.

In his first speech since Britain formally left the EU on Friday, Mr Johnson will spell out to business leaders and diplomats today his aims for negotiating the future trade terms with the bloc.

Brussels negotiators are set to publish their own mandate the same day.

Mr Johnson will say he wants a comprehensive trade deal at least as good as Canada's agreement, but will be ready to take a looser arrangement like Australia's if talks fail, according to a UK official.

The prime minister will again spell out that in brokering a Canada-style free trade accord, there will be no alignment with EU rules standards, European law courts will have no jurisdiction over Britain and he will make no concessions, the official said.

He will also make it clear that the National Health Service is not up for grabs in any trade talks.

Mr Johnson's speech is set to fire the starting gun on what will be 11 months of hard bargaining.

After officially leaving the EU on Friday, Britain now must negotiate future trade relations with the bloc that will take effect when a standstill transition period expires at the end of the year.

Early signs indicate that the parties will struggle to avoid a cliff-edge change in their trading arrangement come 2021.

"We are taking back control of our laws, so we are not going to have high alignment with the EU, legislative alignment with their rules," Foreign Minister Dominic Raab told Sky News.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has previously said it will be "impossible" to sign off on a full deal before Mr Johnson's hard year-end deadline.

The EU has repeatedly told Britain the level of access to its lucrative single market will depend on how far London agrees to adhere to a "level playing field" - shorthand for rules on environmental standards, labour regulations and state aid.

According to the Daily Telegraph, Mr Johnson has become "privately infuriated" with the EU's stance.

The EU and Canada negotiated for seven years before signing the trade deal, known as Ceta, in October 2016. It took almost another year before its provisional application began.

The prospect of a Canada-style deal with Britain received a guarded welcome from Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, who said last Friday that it would have to be based on minimum common standards.

The United Kingdom is geographically much closer than Canada and cannot be allowed to undermine the EU, he said in Dublin.

Mr Varadkar repeated his concerns yesterday, saying Britain and the EU should not set such rigid red lines before talks on the trade deal because that could make it more difficult to secure an agreement.

"One thing I'd say to everyone is let's not repeat some of the errors that were made in the past 2½ years," Mr Varadkar told the BBC. "Let's not set such rigid red lines that make it hard to come to an agreement and let's tone down the nationalistic rhetoric."

BLOOMBERG, REUTERS