Brexit trade chief Liam Fox squirms as talks with Canada hit an awkward snag

The Tories' Brexit trade chief squirmed today after key talks with Canada hit a stumbling block.

Liam Fox was grilled by MPs after it was claimed Canada is refusing to copy and paste its EU trade deal for Britain in a No Deal Brexit .

Brexiteers had hoped Canada would "roll over" its Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, CETA, which took seven years to agree with the EU.

Only last month, Cabinet minister Mr Fox claimed talks were "at an advanced stage".

But last night BuzzFeed reported Canada is refusing to "roll over" the ready-made CETA pact to the UK if there's no deal on October 31.

Instead Canada reportedly wants to take advantage of Britain's vow to suspend trade tariffs for many imports on Day One.

Grilled today Mr Fox claimed talks had been "99%" of the way there - but admitted things have changed.

And he tried to blame MPs for the deadlock - saying they'd been sending "mixed messages" to Canada.

He told the International Trade Committee: "The progress was very advanced, in fact we reckoned above 99% agreement.

“The difference there was as ever that the signals coming from our parliament were conflicting.

“Countries were negotiating with us on the basis that there would be a potential of a no deal exit.

“When parliament then says parliament will make sure there is no possibility of a no deal exit, those we’re negotiating with get mixed signals.

He sent a plea to Canada to change tack (REUTERS)

“If Parliament continues to be inconsistent, it’s very difficult for the government to maintain a consistent position in terms of negotiations.”

Mr Fox sent a desperate plea to Canada not to simply rely on emergency suspension of tariffs.

He said any scrapping of tariffs in a No Deal Brexit “would be a temporary arrangement” and Canada couldn’t “count on” them for more than a year.

He added: “To not come to an agreement for a No Deal exit would put at risk the potential Canadian exports to the UK, were the UK to change those emergency Day One tariffs in the future.

"For which reason, my advice is still to the Canadian government to seek to make an agreement that covers us in all circumstances.”