BORIS Johnson has warned the public and his Cabinet to 'get ready' for a no-deal Brexit, suggesting the UK will fail to obtain a trade deal with the EU. 

After a meeting of his senior ministers this evening, the Prime Minister said the deal the EU is offering is "not right" and has advised the public to "get ready for that Australian option".

An Australia-style deal is another way of describing no-deal, as Australia trades with the EU under World Trade Organisation (WTO) terms for most products. 

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The statement is the strongest indicator so far from Mr Johnson that the UK will end the transition period without any free trade agreement with the EU in just three weeks' time. 

Addressing the public this evening, Mr Johnson said: "I’ve just updated Cabinet on where we’ve got to with our friends and partners in the EU and they agreed very strongly with me that the deal on the table is really not at the moment right for the UK."

He described the problems with the EU's offer, saying the bloc wanted "equivalence between the UK and the EU which basically means that whatever new laws they brought in we would have to follow or else face punishment, sanctions, tariffs or whatever."

He said the UK would be like "twins" with the EU, and added: "It was put to me that this was kind of a bit like twins and the UK is one twin the EU is another and if the EU decides to have a haircut then the UK is going to have a haircut or else face punishment.

"Or if the EU decides to buy an expensive handbag then the UK has to buy an expensive handbag too or else face tariffs…Clearly that is not the sensible way to proceed and it’s unlike any other free trade deal.

"It’s a way of keeping the UK kind of locked in the EU’s orbit - in their regulatory orbit."

He said the two sides have been unable to overcome their problems with fisheries, and access to fishing waters and quotas.

The Prime Minister said: "After many years now of voting to leave the EU we wouldn’t have control of our waters and that’s no good. And so the Cabinet agreed very strongly with it that we’re really not there yet at all.

"What I’ve said to our negotiators is that we’ve got to keep going, and we’ll go the extra mile -  and we will. And I will go to Brussels, I will go to Paris, I will go to Berlin, I will go to wherever to try and get this home and get a deal."

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Moving on to the issue of no deal, the Prime Minister said there was "always the possibility...of coming out on Australia terms".

He added: "We can prosper mightily in that future which is just around the corner. "And there are all sorts of amazing opportunities for this country.

"So what I told the Cabinet this evening is to get on and make those preparations. "We’re not stopping talks, we’ll continue to negotiate but looking at where we are I do think it’s vital that everyone now gets ready for that Australian option."