Why Boris Johnson is perfectly happy to own his Brexit trade deal | Larry Elliott

A quick look at the past 30 years explains why British voters were clear they wanted to leave the EU

Thirty years ago this month there were crunch trade talks in Brussels. After four years of discussions, attempts to secure a new global deal were not going well. Inside the negotiating room, the US and EU teams were at loggerheads. Outside, on the streets of the Belgian capital, farmers were rioting over proposed cuts in agricultural subsidies.

As deadline time for the first editions of the UK papers loomed, the press room was graced by the arrival of the Daily Telegraph's man on the spot: a young Boris Johnson. The paper's news desk had belatedly twigged that there was a story in these collapsing trade talks and had told Johnson to find out what it was.