50-50 chance of a Brexit negotiation ‘car crash’

A Brexit trade deal with the European Union could take up to five years to negotiate and there is a 50 per cent chance of a “car crash” in the talks with Brussels along the way, former chancellor Lord Darling has warned.

The Labour peer said Theresa May needed to set out what her aim was for the negotiations claiming that at the moment the UK was “walking through a snowstorm” and could end up falling over a cliff.

He said he believed a deal would be done with the remaining members of the EU but the process could be as protracted as efforts to resolve the Greek economic crisis.

“I think a deal will be done, but I think it may be four to five years before it is done, at least,” he told the House of Lords EU select committee.

Suggesting the process may go on beyond the March 2019 deadline for the Article 50 Brexit timetable, he said: “There’s maybe a 50 per cent chance we reach the end of this process with a traditional car crash followed by the traditional crisis meeting late into the night, we agree to roll the thing over.

“Greeceisagoodexample ofhowthingsdon’tgetfixed despite the fact everyone says they want to fix them”.