'well prepared' for no-deal Brexit
newspaper. "But if the choice is between arrangements that tie our hands indefinitely, or where we can shape our own future, then that's no choice at all. And leaving on Australian terms is an outcome for which we are increasingly well-prepared". Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Friday that Britain should get ready for a deal with the European Union similar to the one Australia has, "based on simple principles of global free trade."
A so-called "Australia deal" means that the United Kingdom would trade on World Trade Organization terms: as a country without an EU trade agreement, like Australia, tariffs would be imposed under WTO rules, likely causing significant price rises. Johnson's critics say that an
Australian-style deal is simply code for no deal at all with Britain's largest export market. Australia's trade with the EU is dwarfed by Britain's.
More than 70 British business groups representing over 7 million workers made a last-ditch attempt on Sunday to persuade politicians to get back to the negotiating table next week and strike a Brexit deal. The groups ranged from the Confederation of British Industry, TheCityUK and techUK to the National Farmers' Union, British Retail Consortium and the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.
Gove has previously said that while the British government wanted an agreement with Brussels, it was not going be "held hostage". "It will require a fundamental change in attitude, policy and politics from the EU to get things back on track," Gove wrote in the Sunday Times. "As things stand, that will not happen, and the EU's decisions at last week's summit have, in effect, ended those trade talks," he added.
At what was supposed to be the "Brexit summit" on Thursday, the EU delivered an ultimatum: it said it was concerned by a lack of progress and called on London to yield on key sticking points or see a rupture of ties with the bloc from Jan. 1 after the end of the Brexit transition period. The Sunday Telegraph newspaper reported that British business minister Alok Sharma is seeking cash from the Treasury to help businesses navigate a no-deal Brexit.
"With compromise and tenacity, a deal can be done. Businesses call on leaders on both sides to find a route through", business groups said in their joint statement on Sunday.
British finance minister Rishi Sunak said on Wednesday that he believed a second national lockdown to slow the spread of the coronavirus would carry heavy economic and social costs. "We cannot allow the virus to take hold. We must prevent the strain on our NHS becoming unbearable. But we must also acknowledge the stark reality of the economic and social impacts of another national lockdown," he told parliament. "The costs of doing so are not abstract, they are real. They can be counted in jobs lost, businesses closed and children's education harmed," he added.