PM admits most likely outcome will be no-deal
TALKS WITH EU PRESIDENT ‘CORDIAL’ BUT SIDES REMAIN FAR APART
BORIS Johnson suggested there was still hope of a post-Brexit trade deal with the European Union but the two sides remained “very far apart”.
Following talks between the Prime Minister and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen yesterday, the negotiations will continue, with both leaders agreeing to “go the extra mile” in search of a deal.
Mr Johnson said the UK would not be walking away from the negotiating table and “where there is life, there is hope” but a no-deal outcome was still the most likely scenario.
He said the UK should get ready for the breakdown of talks, resulting in tariffs under World Trade Organisation (WTO) terms from January 1.
“The most likely thing now is, of course, that we have to get ready for WTO terms, Australia terms,” the Prime Minister said.
But the agreement to continue talking beyond yesterday’s deadline set by Mr Johnson and Mrs von der Leyen does indicate that some compromise is possible.
Mr Johnson spoke to Mrs von der Leyen for around 20 minutes in a call described by sources as “perfectly cordial”. The pair agreed to “keep going for as long as they still think a deal is possible”, a source said.
A joint statement issued by the two leaders said: “Our negotiating teams have been working day and night over recent days. And despite the exhaustion after almost a year of negotiations, despite the fact that deadlines have been missed over and over we think it is responsible at this point to go the extra mile.”
Following his talks with Mrs von der Leyen the Prime Minister updated the Cabinet on the situation.
Mr Johnson then told reporters: “We’re going to continue to try and we’re going to try with all our hearts and be as creative as we possibly can, but what we can’t do is compromise on that fundamental nature of what Brexit is all about which is us being able to control our laws, control our fisheries, it’s very, very simple.”
The major sticking points in the negotiations – as they have been for months – are on fishing rights and the “level playing field” which Brussels wants to prevent unfair competition from the UK undercutting EU standards and state subsidy rules.
Mr Johnson has said no prime minister could accept a situation where the EU could automatically “punish” the UK if it failed to follow future regulations from Brussels. The UK side has already indicated it would not regress from existing EU standards on issues such as workers’ rights and environmental protections.