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Britain will "fight back" and not "slink off like a wounded animal" if finishes its negotiations with the EU without striking the deal it wants, the Chancellor Philip Hammond has said.

Mr Hammond told the BBC's Andrew Marr that Britain would "do whatever we need to do" including striking deals and building alliances with the rest of the world, to protect and drive the British economy if it were forced to face a future without a trade agreement with the EU.

Mr Hammond said: "If there is anybody in the European Union who thinks that if we don't do a deal with the European Union, if we don't continue to work closely together, Britain will simply slink off as a wounded animal, that is not going to happen.

"British people have a great fighting spirit and we will fight back. We will forge new trade deals around the world. We will build our business globally.

"We will go on from strength to strength and we will do whatever we need to do to make the British economy competitive and to make sure that this country has a great and successful future."

It has been suggested that this future might mean a low tax, low regulation, Singaporean style economy. Asked if the UK would cut corporationtaxes to attract investment away from the EU, the Chancellor said: "People can read what they like into it. I'm not going to speculate now on how the UK would respond to what I don't expect to be the outcome.

"But we are going into a negotiation. We expect to be able to achieve a comprehensive free trade deal with our European Union partners, but they should know that the alternative isn't Britain just slinking away into a corner."

Appearing later on Peston on Sunday, the Chancellor also faced questions over his article in The Sunday Times, in which he revealed plansto build up 60bn in reserves to deal with problems that could arise from Brexit over the next two years. Jeremy Corbyn yesterday said thatthe NHS and social care arein crisis and "the money's there" to deal with them. Mr Hammond said the problems with the NHS and social care were to do with an ageing population, and that it would be "reckless" simply to throw more money at it.

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Hammond: Britain will 'fight back' if no deal with the EU is reached - The Independent

Negative coverage of the European Union in British newspapers nearly doubled over the last 40 years, a study has found.

Researchers from Queen Mary University of London (QMUL)found negative coverage of the EU increased from 24 per cent to 45 per cent between 1974 and 2013, at the expense of positive and neutral coverage.

Positive coverage fell from 25 per cent to 10 per cent over the same period.

The study, published in the Journal of Common Market Studies,analysed16,400 newspaper articles during five periods from 1974 to 2013 duringwhich the EU washighly prominent in UK news.

Government suffers defeat in Lords over plan to begin Brexit negotiations

By individually analysing each newspaper, the authors showed negative coverage increased steadily fromthe mid-1970sto themid-2010s, a period in which centre-right tabloids increased their EUcoverage.

By the mid-2010s, 85 per cent of EU coverage in the Daily Mailwas negative, compared with less than 25 per cent in the mid-1970s.

Coverage of the EU in centre-right broadsheet newspapers such asThe TimesandtheFinancial Timesremained stable and tended to be factual and based on a pragmatic cost-benefitperspective, the study found.

The researchers said the study illustrates how a minority view can come to be accepted into the mainstream.

Dr Paul Copeland, senior lecturer at QMUL, said:While coverage across the 40 year period stays fairly stable in terms of volume, theres a significant increase of negative coverage in centre-right tabloids.

Our results show that with the exception of the Daily Mirror, the only counter-weight to the noisy and negative minority is factual and neutral reporting: good journalism, but not necessarily effective as a spirited public defence of the EU.

He added: What is interesting is that the noisy minority in the media is reflected so acutely in politics. The pro-European cause is made without passion or vigour.

It is the absence of a truly pro-EU faction that gives the impression that the UK is more Eurosceptic than it truly is. There are no real defenders of the EU to be found.

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Negative coverage of EU in UK newspapers nearly doubled in 40 years, study finds - The Independent

Lord Lamont, another Eurosceptic former Chancellor, added: I have always thought the question of any payments by the UK after Brexit was a political issue not a legal one.

Steve Baker, a leading Eurosceptic Tory MP, added: I am delighted the Lords are playing their part in recalibrating the EUs speculative and unjustified demands.

Of course after we leave we are obliged to pay nothing and their lordships are right to set out the legal position.

Jean Claude Juncker, the EU President, warned the UK would face a very hefty Brexit divorce bill.

The EU wants Britain to be paying as much as 50billion into EU projects for four years after Brexit, with final payments continuing up until the end of 2023.

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'Britain will not have to pay a penny to leave the European Union' - peers hand Theresa May major boost ahead of ... - Telegraph.co.uk

New York Times

European Union, Nintendo Switch, 'Logan': Your Friday Evening Briefing New York Times Rates remain low by historical standards, supporting economic growth by encouraging borrowing and risk-taking. The change would come earlier than expected. But officials say that the economy is nearing the end of its recovery from the 2008 financial ...

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European Union, Nintendo Switch, 'Logan': Your Friday Evening Briefing - New York Times

The former Soviet nation, which Britains Foreign Office advises against travel to conflict-ravaged areas, are set to defy Vladimir Putins wishes to sign the deal with Brussels.

The Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement was finalised in time for president Serzh Sargsyans visit to Brussels earlier this week.

European Council president Donald Tusk after Mondays talks said it will broaden the scope of our relations.

In an interview with Euronews, president Sargsyan said: Because of the will of both sides, this agreement isnt so much different from the previous one.

EURONEWSGETTY

I think we can be useful for the European Union with the exports

president Serzh Sargsyan

They are no much different in political part, we have to make sure there are no contradictions with our commitments to the Eurasian Economic Agreement, which we are a member of.

Armenia has close ties with Russia, with Moscow supplying energy to the nation as well as maintaining a constant military presence there. President Putins troops have conducted several military exercises there amid heightened tension with the West.

However, president Sargsyan has stressed Armenias closer integration with the EU will bring Europe closer to Russias Eurasian Economic Union.

he said: At the very beginning of the negotiations, our understanding was that we can have both the association agreement with the EU and close integration with the Eurasian Economic Union.

In a show of defiance to Moscow, president Sargsyan added: Russians never told us we could never sign such an agreement, they told us, You can, but youll have to pay for energy at world market price.

The Armenian leader has used the potential deal, which could be signed as early as May, as a springboard to bring Nato and Russia together.

Ive met with the Nato secretary general. I invited him to Armenia for us to celebrate our work of the past 25 years, he added.

We dont see any contradiction between this partnership and our alliance with Russia within the framework of the CSTO.

On a lighter note, president Sargsyan was happy to crack a joke by suggesting Manchester United star Henrikh Mkhitaryan has already been a good export to Europe from Armenia.

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We have many famous people like Henrikh Mkhitaryan or chess player Levon Aronian, we have Olympic champions, he said.

I think we can be useful for the European Union with the exports of our wonderful agricultural products, IT is also very rapidly developing in Armenia, however, first of all, we can be a reliable and predictable neighbour for the EU.

The Foreign Office advises against travel to areas affected by the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, which have causes fierce clashes between the two nations.

On the night of February 24, the Armenian army attempted to infiltrate through Azerbaijani positions along the line of contact and seize favourable positions on the frontline.

However, the attack failed after Azerbaijani forces pushed back in a heavy battle. The neighbouring countrys defence ministry has claimed Armenias armed forces have violated ceasefire terms 265 times on March 3.

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EU expansion? War-ridden Armenia CONCLUDES European Union partnership deal - Express.co.uk