HALLELUJAH! IT’S A MERRY BREXMAS( AND HOPES RISE FOR A JOYFUL NEW YEAR )
As millions more face lockdown woe, dramatic late-night breakthrough puts Boris on the brink of delivering gift we’ve been waiting so long for...
BORIS Johnson was in ‘touching distance’ of securing a historic Brexit trade deal last night.
After months of fraught talks and missed deadlines, he was poised to strike a ‘Brexmas Accord’ with Brussels. Sources said the Prime Minister was in the ‘delicate final stages’ of an agreement that will avoid costly tariffs when the transition period ends next week.
However they expect a backlash from Eurosceptic MPs over fishing rights, where Mr Johnson ohnson is said to have given ground.
Sources on both sides of the Channel confirmed an outline agreement had been struck following a flurry of calls between the PM and the European Commission’s Ursula von der Leyen.
The PM’s chief negotiator David Frost, his EU counterpart Michel Barnier and a senior aide to Mrs von der Leyen were last night working through a line-by-line examination of the terms to agree the legal text.
Government sources warned both sides needed to be ‘happy with the exact wording’ and a late hiccup was possible. But one senior insider predicted the deal was now ‘highly unlikely to collapse’. Another claimed
Mr Johnson’s decision to take personal charge of the negotiations at the weekend had been critical in breaking the deadlock.
‘He knew where his red lines were because he set them – he was completely across the detail,’ the source said. ‘When it was all over, von der Leyen asked “Do we have a deal?” He replied simply “Yes”.’
Last night sources said the only potential hurdle to an agreement was a last-minute protest by French president Emmanuel Macron. EU leaders have to agree the deal unanimously.
The agreement covers vast areas of the UK’s relationship with the EU, including trade, security and travel. One report said the final version could run to 2,000 pages.
Ministers hope the news will boost morale in what looks set to be the toughest of winters. The pound rose sharply yesterday on the back of mounting speculation that agreement was near.
The breakthrough came as Health Secretary Matt Hancock warned that a surge of Covid cases would put much of England under heavy restrictions, probably for months.
In an emergency statement, he announced that another eight million people would be placed under Tier Four restrictions on Boxing Day.
Mr Hancock also revealed mounting concern about a new ‘super-strain’ of the virus which has reached the UK from South Africa. Government sources said the EU deal would see British fishermen able to land roughly two thirds of fish in UK waters by the middle of the decade. But a senior Tory predicted the agreement would ‘land badly’ with Eurosceptic MPs. It is understood to involve the EU handing back only 25 per cent of its share of quota from UK waters, with the cuts phased in over five and a half years.
MPs are set to be recalled to Parliament to vote the deal through in time for the end of the transition on December 31. The agreement came after days of frantic negotiation. Sources claim it was almost derailed when the EU proposed measures they say would have crippled Britain’s drive to become a world leader in electric cars.
‘We have got it to a place we are happy with,’ a source said. ‘It upholds all the principles we said we would not compromise on. Yes, we have made compromises in some areas, but we have not compromised on the fundamentals of taking back control.’
Another senior Tory said the deal would ensure ‘zero tariff, zero quota access to European markets’ alongside security co-operation. ‘There will be no European Court of Justice messing us around,’ the source said.
However, the Prime Minister is braced for accusations of betrayal from Eurosceptic Tories, some of whom had urged the PM to walk away rather than compromise.
Environment minister Zac Goldsmith predicted that both diehard Remainers and hardcore Eurosceptics would try to pick holes in the deal.
The ardent Brexiteer urged both sides to accept the need for compromise, adding: ‘There is a very large constituency of people who are absolutely longing to trash the deal and will do so irrespective of its merits. A temporary coming together of the two extremes.’
The European Research Group of Tory MPs, which was instrumental in killing off Theresa May’s deal last year, announced it would convene a ‘star chamber’ or lawyers to analyse the agreement as soon as it is published. It will be led by arch-Eurosceptic Sir Bill Cash. In a joint statement, the ERG’s chairman and his deputy, Mark Francois and David Jones, said: ‘Given that the new agreement is highly complex, the star chamber will scrutinise it in detail, to ensure that its provisions genuinely protect the sovereignty of the United Kingdom, after we exit the transition period at the end of this year.’
The statement said the group aimed to publish its analysis of the deal ‘before parliament reconvenes’. With Sir Keir Starmer indicating he would order Labour to vote for a deal, the agreement is almost certain to get through the Commons when MPs are
‘He was completely across the detail’
recalled, probably on December 30.
But a Brexiteer revolt could destabilise Mr Johnson’s leadership at a time when many Tory MPs are already furious over the handling of the pandemic.
One Brexiteer MP warned last night: ‘If Boris has sold us out, he is finished – and I think he knows that.’
Eurosceptic jitters intensified last night after French sources claimed victory for Emmanuel Macron over fishing.
A French official told the Reuters news agency ‘the British made huge concessions’ in the final 48 hours, mostly on fishing. The fishing agreement is an improvement on the EU’s opening offer to return 15 per cent of
quota over a decade. But it is also a long way short of the UK’s demand to take back 60 per cent in three years.
A UK source said Brussels had at one point argued for a 14-year transition, adding: ‘We had to give a bit to get that down but we’ll be catching something like two thirds of all fish in our waters by the end of the transition.’
A No Deal Brexit would have enabled the UK to take back all quota in its waters. But ministers were concerned that crippling tariffs could make it impossible for British trawlermen to sell their catch to traditional markets in the EU.
Business leaders, who have issued increasingly strident warnings about the risk of No Deal, last night gave a cautious welcome to the prospect of a last-gasp agreement.
Adam Marshall, director-general of the British Chambers of Commerce, said: ‘Faced with the prospect of No Deal in just eight days, businesses are hopeful that a Brexit deal is finally in sight.
‘Understandably, business communities will want to digest the detail – and how it will affect movement of goods, people and data across borders.’
Last night the chief spokesman for Mrs Ursula von der Leyen added to the suspense by sharing a photograph of boxes of pizzas, the meal favoured by the negotiating teams.