Boris Johnson has been warned by Michel Barnier that he will have to give ground on access to UK fishing grounds or face a no deal Brexit.
As talks resumed on Friday the EU chief negotiator gave a stark assessment of the ultimatum the EU is giving to the British,
In a speech to the European Parliament Barnier said access to the EU’s single market will be conditional on keeping British fishing waters open to EU boat.
With the talks coming down to a dispute on fishing quotas a deal the Prime Minister said achieving a deal looked "very difficult".
Johnson told the EU to “see sense” and come to the table with a compromise in order to bridge the gap in post-Brexit trade deal negotiations.
During a visit to Greater Manchester, the Prime Minister stressed the public voted in the EU referendum to control its own laws and waters.
He added: “No sensible government is going to agree to a treaty that doesn’t have those two basic things in it as well as everything else.
“Our door is open, we’ll keep talking, but I have to say things are looking difficult."
“There’s a gap that needs to be bridged, the UK has done a lot to try and help, and we hope that our EU friends will see sense and come to the table with something themselves, because that’s really where we are.”
Barnier told MPs in Brussels that the nine months of talks had hit the “moment of truth”.
The European parliament has said it needs agreement by midnight on Sunday to be able to give consent in a vote this year,
In his pessimistic speech to the European parliament, Barnier told MEPs: “It’s a question of whether the UK will leave in a few days, ten days or so, with an agreement or without an agreement. It’s the moment of truth.
“We have very little time remaining, just a few hours to work through these negotiations in a useful fashion if you want this agreement to enter into force on 1 January.”
Barnier warned Downing Street that the time had come “when decisions need to be taken”.
He then went back to talks in Brussels with the UK team led by David Frost
After a telephone call between Boris Johnson and the European commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, on Thursday night, Downing Street said the negotiations were in a “very serious” state, and that a no-deal outcome remained “very likely”.
Despite the brinkmanship continuing bookmakers increased the chances of a deal being struck at the very last minute.
