LONDON (AP) — Britain's top Brexit official says his country wants to lead a "race to the top" in global standards, in a speech aimed at allaying European fears of a deregulated, laissez-faire U.K. economy.

Brexit Secretary David Davis said Tuesday in Vienna that Brexit won't lead to "an Anglo-Saxon race to the bottom, with Britain plunged into a 'Mad Max'-style world borrowed from dystopian fiction."

Davis is touring European capitals as Britain tries to persuade EU leaders to strike new deals on trade and security with the U.K.

Britain wants to retain close economic ties with the EU after it leaves in March 2019, while also becoming free to strike new trade deals around the world.

But EU leaders warn Britain can't have both freedom from the bloc's regulations and frictionless trade.