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“There is a fear that if you take what potentially are quite expensive decisions with regards to 5G because the Americans have told you that they are a security problem, and then President Trump gets a trade deal with China and suddenly Huawei is all O.K. again, then you’ll feel like the earth has moved under your feet,” said Ian Bond, director of foreign policy at the Centre for European Reform, a policy group in London.

Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, explains that the "backtracking on the rule of law in any member-states" creates "a challenge to the whole mutual trust. That is a founding principle for crucial projects such as the single market or justice."

Trade expert Sam Lowe, of the Centre for European Reform, believes Mr Johnson will have to make concessions to Brussels to get a deal in a year.“The lesson of the last few years of negotiation is the EU budges a bit, the UK has to move a lot,” he said.

Sam Lowe, from the Centre for European Reform think tank, said there would be a lot of "performance theatre" from the government in the next six months to fulfil Johnson's Brexit pledge."The landing zone for the negotiation probably won't emerge until later next year," he wrote on Twitter.

Sam Lowe of the Centre for European Reform think tank said Johnson likely believed that a “firm deadline” would help speed up trade talks with the EU. But he told the BBC that the British government “could easily introduce a later bill saying ‘actually we could extend it.’”“It’s a firmer deadline, but of course there is still some flexibility,” Lowe said.

Sam Lowe, from the Centre for European Reform think tank, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that a December 2020 deadline could help the PM manage his own party when it comes to making concessions to the EU. "The prospect of a no-deal is still there," Mr Lowe said. "The question is whether Boris Johnson wants a no-deal but the evidence of recent time suggests no he doesn't."

Experts from the Centre for European Reform think-tank have been giving interviews today about the government’s decision to rule out an extension to the Brexit transition period. Sam Lowe, a trade specialist at the CER, described it as “domestic virtue signalling”.

Sam Lowe of the Centre for European Reform think tank said Johnson likely believed that a “firm deadline” would help speed up trade talks with the EU. But he told the BBC that the British government “could easily introduce a later bill saying ‘actually we could extend it.’”“It’s a firmer deadline, but of course there is still some flexibility,” Lowe said.