No10 has stoked fears that drama over a Brexit deal could drag on past Christmas - despite Boris Johnson ’s showdown tonight.
The Prime Minister will have dinner in Brussels with EU chief Ursula von der Leyen in a last-ditch bid to reach a trade deal.
But Downing Street suggested the pair are unlikely to seal a deal tonight.
Instead talks are expected to continue between the two chief negotiators in “the coming days” if the PM doesn’t call the whole thing off.
No10 today refused to rule out the possibility of talks extending beyond Christmas Day, right up until the December 31 deadline.
Two UK sources told the Mirror they believed trade negotiations would not go beyond December 25.
But a source admitted ratifying the deal - which means signing it off in the UK and European Parliaments - could happen in that final week before New Year.
Asked if he could rule out negotiations stretching beyond Christmas Day, the PM’s official spokesman said only they should conclude “by the end of the year”.
He also refused to rule out asking the UK Parliament - whose recess dates still haven’t been announced - to sit in the week between Christmas and New Year to vote on the deal.
“We are confident that should we get a Free Trade Agreement, there is time to pass any necessary legislation,” he replied.
“We’ve seen previously the ability for Parliament to work at pace where needed. But obviously we would set out business for the House in the usual way.”
Fears of a no-deal Brexit were rising today as Boris Johnson told MPs not “any Prime Minister” could accept the EU’s terms on fishing and EU laws.
He said: “Our friends in the EU are currently insisting that if they pass a new law in the future with which we in this country do not comply or don't follow suit, then they want the automatic right to punish us and to retaliate.
"Secondly, they are saying that the UK should be the only country in the world not to have sovereign control over its fishing waters.”
But the PM yesterday accepted he may push talks right to the wire.
EU officials and politicians have not ruled out talks beyond Christmas.
One EU source told the Mirror: “Talks can continue. Yes. But at some point there will be no deal situation on 1 January, also if talks are still going on"
Stef Blok, the foreign minister for the Netherlands, said earlier this week: “We shouldn’t be rushed into compromises. We actually have a lot of time remaining. We should use the time till 31 December.”
And the European Commission has said: “We are not going to speculate on a last-chance date. We are fully committed to substantial negotiations. We’ve always said and continue to say it’s the substance that prevails over timing.”
But Boris Johnson’s Press Secretary, Allegra Stratton, did make clear there would be no talks beyond New Year’s Eve.
She told journalists the Prime Minister was focused on tonight’s dinner, “not thinking days or weeks ahead”.
She added: “There will be no negotiations going into 2021.”
The PM is expected to leave Brussels tonight before a gathering of 27 EU leaders on Thursday.
No10 suggested any deal may not be ready for EU leaders to sign off at the summit, as talks would resume if possible in the “coming days”.
