UK and EU to ramp up trade talks

BRITAIN and the EU have agreed to intensify trade talks ahead of the October 15 deadline for a deal set by Boris Johnson.

They agreed to ‘work intensively’ to resolve differences following a call between Mr Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

They have tasked their chief negotiators, Lord Frost and Michel Barnier, to ramp up Brexit trade talks while acknowledging that ‘significant gaps remained’ between their positions.

Mr Johnson and Ms von der Leyen will also speak on a regular basis. A No10 spokesman said: ‘They agreed on the importance of finding an agreement… as a strong basis for a strategic EU-UK relationship in future.’

Ms von der Leyen said progress had been made, adding: ‘Good phone call with Boris Johnson about the state of play in the EU-UK negotiations.’