The BBC Radio 5 live host argued it will be unlikely for the UK Government to finalise a post-Brexit trade deal with the EU by the end of this year given Parliament will need sufficient time to scrutinise the agreement before the EU27 can rectify it. And as Stephen Barclay reminded the BBC host of the similar scepticism around Boris Johnson’s chances to finalise the withdrawal bill by January 31, Ms Burden said: “Anyone who has ever been involved in a complicated trade negotiation has repeatedly said that the withdrawal agreement was the simple part.

“Trying to negotiate a fully comprehensive trade deal when you’re talking about having no quotas, no tariffs, full fishing rights over UK waters is far, far more challenging than anything that was negotiated with relation to the withdrawal agreement.

“So to say ‘oh, it couldn’t be done and it was’ is actually disingenuous in this particular context.”

The Brexit Secretary promptly hit back dismantling the BBC host’s argument as he said: “I’m just pointing to the fact that we previously said things couldn’t be done that were done, so I don’t think that’s disingenuous.

“I think that’s just stating a fact that similar points had been made like this before.

“Secondly, when you say there needs to be this much time for parliamentary scrutiny and so forth, just look at what happened in the House of Commons yesterday.

“When I was involved with the withdrawal agreement in the previous Parliament I was constantly being told that we needed much more time for parliamentary scrutiny as the Commons needed to go through the bill in great detail.

“It was a very significant bill and the time put forward by the Government was insufficient.

“We had time yesterday in Parliament that was not used. We had additional time available for the scrutiny of the bill and yet we actually finished the scrutiny early because the House didn’t want to go into more detail.

“So, people are speculating to how much time we need. I’m optimistic about the deal.”

On Tuesday, the Brexit Secretary insisted the Government would stick to its EU departure timetable after facing calls to guarantee the UK will leave with a trade agreement.

The Cabinet minister said the Conservatives had committed in their manifesto to not extend the implementation period beyond December 2020.

Mr Barclay expressed confidence in negotiating a trade agreement with the EU in the 11-month transition but did not rule out a no-deal arrangement.

Clause 33 of the WAB seeks to prohibit ministers from trying to extend the implementation period, which would begin once the UK leaves the EU on January 31.

Boris Johnson will meet new European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen for talks in Downing Street on Wednesday.

The Prime Minister is expected to press home his desire to reach a free trade agreement with the EU by the end of December 2020, when the transition period is set to end.

Mr Johnson has insisted he will not push back the deadline, but critics claim that the timescale is too tight to reach a new deal.

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Their meeting, the first since she took office, will also be attended by Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay and the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier.

Number 10 said Mr Johnson will underline that the forthcoming negotiations will be based on an ambitious free trade agreement, and not on alignment.

Brussels insisted on Monday that trade talks would not be on the agenda at the meeting.

European Commission spokesman Eric Mamer said the meeting would “set the scene” for the Brexit process, but in order to launch trade talks the European Council – made up of the 27 remaining EU nations – would need to approve a mandate “and we are not at that stage yet”.

“This is not a meeting that will go into the details of the trade negotiation per se,” he added.

Meanwhile, MPs will continue to scrutinise the Withdrawal Agreement Bill (WAB) on Wednesday in the second day of its committee stage.

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