Deadline for Brexit ‘won’t be extended due to Covid’
BORIS JOHNSON has dismissed calls to extend the Brexit transition period in light of the new mutant coronavirus.
The UK leaves the single market and customs union on December 31 and will face tariffs and quotas on trade with the European Union without a deal.
But talks in Brussels remain difficult with ‘significant differences in key areas’, including fishing rights and rules on maintaining fair competition.
Leading the call for a delay, Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted: ‘The new Covid strain... demands our 100% attention. It would be unconscionable to compound it with Brexit.’
London mayor Sadiq Khan said ‘ the only thing the country should be concentrating on is fighting the virus’.
But Downing Street rejected the call and vetoed the idea of a temporary ‘stand still’ period, maintaining current arrangements beyond the end of the year. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer also declined to back calls for an extension. He told the prime minister: ‘People were promised a deal and you must deliver that deal.’
The PM’s official spokesman said: ‘We will need to ratify any agreement ahead of January 1.’ He added: ‘We would recall parliament to give MPs a vote on the necessary legislation.’ But he also said we will leave on December 31 ‘with a free-trade agreement or we will leave with Australia-style WTO terms. That remains the case.’
Lead negotiators Michel Barnier and Lord Frost continued talks in Brussels yesterday after ‘difficult’ weekend discussions. The European Parliament has said any deal would have to be made by Sunday evening to be ratified in time.