Hold your nerve, plea from Coveney in tense Brexit talks

SIMON Coveney urged fellow European Union members last night to join him and ‘hold our nerve’ as both sides square up in the Brexit talks.

A deal needs to be in place by the end of the month and Foreign Affairs Minister Coveney said there is still a ‘good chance’ it can be done.

‘It’s the time to hold our nerve, to trust Michel Barnier, who has done a phenomenal job to date,’ he said. ‘I believe, if we do that, there’s a good chance that we can get a deal across the line in the next few days.’

But Downing Street sources played down the prospect of an imminent breakthrough.

Meanwhile, businesses are frustrated because of the uncertainty that still surrounds trading arrangements once the UK leaves the single market and customs union at the end of the year.

Tesco chief executive Ken Murphy said the supermarket giant is preparing for a no-deal scenario.

‘We have been doing everything in our power to make sure we are well placed to continue trading, to continue to supply our customers regardless of whether there is or isn’t a no-deal Brexit,’ he said.

‘The biggest challenge we face really is the movement of product between borders, the movement of product between Great Britain and Northern Ireland and, of course, between mainland Europe and the UK.

‘That’s the one area where we really would urge the [British] government to give us some clarity and to allow us to prepare even better for the end of December.’

On Wednesday, Boris Johnson used the language of the referendum campaign to spell out to Brussels that the UK’s ‘bottom line’ on a post-Brexit trade deal is to ‘take back control’.

The British prime minister said he is ‘absolutely committed’ to trying to secure a deal ‘if we can’ amid warnings that talks with the EU have reached a ‘make-or-break’ point.