EU BOSSES don't want to give us a good deal because they fear that other countries will follow us out, Jeremy Hunt says.

The Foreign Secretary insisted he was "cautiously optimistic" that we would get a good deal with the bloc "in the end" but said there was an ongoing battle "between heart and head" in the EU.

Ahead of a speech in Washington today, he said that the UK has faced "bigger challenges" than Brexit before and will survive no matter what happens.

He told BBC Radio 4 today: "The challenge we have is that for EU countries there is a tension between their heart and their head.

"In their hearts they want to give Britain a good deal because they know how important we have been for the security and prosperity of Europe in the post-war period.

"But in their heads they're worried that if they give us a good deal other countries will follow suit."

Mr Hunt, who took over as Foreign Secretary from Boris Johnson after he quit over Brexit, said he thought we would get a deal in the end.

And he promised that Theresa May would never sign up to a deal "that is not consistent with both the letter and the spirit of the referendum" as that would be "absolutely fatal for the UK".

Warning that a bad, messy divorce from the EU would be "terrible for the EU project".

He will give his first speech as Foreign Secretary today on a trip to Washington, arguing to boost sanctions against Russia after the Salisbury poisonings.

He said he hoped that taking tougher action against the Kremlin - after the death of Dawn Sturgis earlier this year - would make countries "think again" about whether to use chemical weapons.

"We have to make sure that our reaction is to stand shoulder to shoulder with America," he stressed.

Today Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab heads to Brussels for more talks with the bloc.

He is also set to make a speech as the Government publish a series of notices on a no-deal Brexit on Thursday.

Yesterday it was revealed that EU residents will have the right to stay in Britain after Brexit even if we don't secure an arrangement.