Boris Johnson accused of 'intellectually impossible' vision of Britain outside EU

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has been accused of offering an "intellectually impossible" and "politically unavailable" vision of live outside the EU.

Dutch finance minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem said the UK could not expect access to European markets unless it accepted free movement of labour.

He said the UK and EU would be worse off as a result of the referendum, and was critical of Mr Johnson's "impossible" vision of Britain's role in Europe.

Mr Dijsselbloem's comments come after Mr Johnson said the UK would "probably" have to leave the EU custom union - despite wanting a "dynamic trade relationship" with the group.

"I think he is offering to the British people options that are really not available", he told BBC2's Newsnight.

"To say 'we could be inside the internal market, keep full access to the internal market, but be outside the customs union' - this is just impossible, it doesn't exist.

"The opposite does exist. We have a customs union with Turkey but Turkey is not part of the internal market.

"So he is saying things that are intellectually impossible, politically unavailable, so I think he is not offering the fair approach that gives the British people a fair view of what is ahead."

Mr Dijsselbloem warned that whatever the outcome of the Brexit negotiations, the economies of the UK and the EU would both suffer.

"There is no win-win situation. It is going to be a lose-lose situation.

"In the best case - if we set aside all emotions and try to work out an agreement which is least damaging to the both of us - we can minimise the damages for the UK economy and for the European economy.

"Britain and British companies and international companies in the UK have full access to the European markets without any hindrance or customs duties, etc. So some of that will disappear. But it is going to be a step back.

"The UK will be outside the internal market and there will be some hindrances. The full free movement within the internal market can only be available if the UK also accepts the other freedoms of Europe, including migration within Europe."