Summary
Here’s a summary of the day’s developments so far:
- The UK and the EU have agreed to keep talks on a post-Brexit trade deal going. The British prime minister, Boris Johnson, and the European commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, agreed there was sufficient hope off a deal being reached to make a continuation worthwhile, making Sunday the latest deadline to be missed.
- The parties remain far apart in the negotiations, Johnson said. Talks have reached deadlock over disagreements on fishing and measures to protect the level playing field within the single market.
- Business leaders welcomed the continuation of talks. The heads of the British Chambers of Commerce, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders and the CBI all backed the decision.
- Several key figures had expressed hope a deal could be reached and had called for discussions to continue. The Irish taoiseach and the UK’s foreign secretary were among those to insist that a deal of some sort could be reached, though the latter in particular sought to lay much of the blame for the failure to find one so far on the EU.
We’re pausing this live blog now and will resume our coverage later if there are any developments.
Updated
Scotland’s constitution secretary, Mike Russell, has again called for no-deal to be taken off the table as Brexit negotiations between the UK and EU are set to continue.
It is now time for the crippling uncertainty over the future of our trading relationship with the European Union to come to an end.
Whatever the outcome of these protracted talks, we know there will be very significant damage to Scotland’s economy and society because of the UK government’s decision to leave the transition period on 31 December in the middle of a pandemic and a recession.
But we also know that the worst outcome of all would be the disastrous impact of a no-deal Brexit which would lead to significant tariffs and the UK government must rule this out immediately.
Russell has long railed against Brexit in any form and before the talks were extended on Sunday, he described leaving without a deal as “unthinkable”.
David Duguid, a junior minister in Westminster’s Scotland Office, said he believed any trade tariffs imposed as a result of a no-deal Brexit were “not the end of the world”. He told the BBC:
We talk about financial tariffs, we talk about non-tariff barriers, these are all the things we’re trying to avoid with a free trade agreement.
We export from countries we don’t have free trade agreements with, on Australia terms for example, which is the expression often used. It doesn’t stop exports, it doesn’t stop trade.
Russell described this as “nonsense”.
Tariffs on land, for example, a big issue in Scotland, would be 60%. That’s not currency fluctuation, that’s disaster.
Updated
Jeremy Corbyn has announced plans for a new organisation to support social justice, peace and human rights in the UK and around the world.
The former Labour leader said his Peace and Justice Project will “bring people together” to create “a future that works for the many, not the few”.
Corbyn, now sitting as an independent MP following the the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s damaging report into antisemitism in the Labour party under his leadership, will launch the initiative next month.
The project will aim to bring people together to support social and environmental justice, peace and internationalism and will focus on combating poverty, inequality and unaccountable corporate power, the Islington North MP said.
The aim of the Peace and Justice Project will be to bring people together, for social justice, peace and human rights, in Britain and across the world. It’s there to create space, hope and opportunity for those campaigning for social justice and a future that works for the many, not the few.
Rafael Correa, the former president of Ecuador, said:
Coronavirus has shown again how neoliberalism is incapable of dealing with the huge crisis our societies face. Now, more than ever, we need to be united in our struggles across the world against neoliberalism and inequality.
Responding to the news that the EU and UK will continue trade talks (see: 11.47am), the Lib Dem leader, Ed Davey, has said:
While it’s essential the UK and EU continue negotiations to avoid a no-deal, it is an outrage for Boris Johnson to leave British business in the lurch, with only a handful of days to plan for new trading arrangements.
The fact that businesses, already on their knees from the Covid crisis, still have no idea how they will trade with the EU in two and half weeks is already costing jobs and is frankly shocking.
That is why Liberal Democrats believe it’s time Boris Johnson put his Brexit ideology aside, to negotiate an adjustment period for British business and secure a full and comprehensive trading arrangement with the EU.
Updated
Ireland’s foreign minister reiterated that it would be a “huge political failing” if there was no deal. Coveney said Ireland had been in touch with the EU’s taskforce but negotiators were “tight-lipped” over the detail.
That is a sign that there are serious discussions ongoing and neither side is breaking confidence and I regard that as a good sign. This is a matter of days now. If this is to fail we cannot allow failure to happen with 24 hours to go before a cliff-edge. We have been planning for a no-trade deal Brexit for 12 months now.
Updated
Coveney said the negotiating process was difficult but experienced teams were working on solutions.
It really needs to be done over the next coming days. From the Irish perspective, we want a deal.
He said there was largely agreement on maintaining existing standards to ensure no unfair competition on issues like workers’ rights, consumer protection and climate change, adding:
The real challenge is how do we deal with future change.
He said that if the EU introduced new regulations around something like climate change and the UK did not respond in kind, it needed to ensure British companies selling into Europe’s single market were not deriving competitive advantage.
Updated
The last few days have been difficult for both negotiating teams, who are under “enormous pressure” to try and find a way forward, Ireland’s foreign minister, Simon Coveney, has said. He told RTÉ Radio’s This Week:
Both sides do want a deal and they want a deal now to provide certainty for so many people who have been waiting for it for years.
He noted both sides had described the discussions as “constructive and useful”, in a shift from their previous terms of “lively and interesting”. And he said their joint statement was a sign they were working to try to find a way forward together.
The only way we get a deal here that both sides can live with is if both understand the real and genuine problems of the other side and try to resolve them through a legal text.
Updated
Boris Johnson says that he will “continue talking” with the EU to try to reach a trade deal, but that leaving without one and trading in future on World Trade Organization terms is more likely.
The European commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, and the UK prime minister have agreed that trade talks should continue (see: 11.47am).
Updated
Divisions in the Conservative party continue over Europe and the trade talks. “No deal would be terrible. So continuing the talks is good news,” tweeted former cabinet minister Damian Green.
No Deal would be terrible. So continuing the talks is good news. Nothing much else to say today.
— Damian Green MP (@DamianGreen) December 13, 2020
But another former Cabinet minister, John Redwood, signalled that hardline Brexiteers may not be happy with any compromise deal with the European Union.
He said: “A long complex legal agreement that locks the UK back into many features of the EU that hinder us is not the Christmas present the UK needs.”
Updated
The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, has said that everything should be done to reach a trade deal.
“Every opportunity to reach a deal is highly welcome,” she said at a news conference in Berlin.
Updated
Asked if there had been any political movement from the EU, Johnson said:
We are always happy to talk and make progress where we can. I do think there is a deal to be done, if our partners, want to do it. But we remain very far apart on these key issues. And you know what they are: the UK can’t be locked into the EU’s regulatory orbit; and we’ve obviously got to take back control of our fisheries, four and a half years after people voted for it, so those are the points. Let’s see what we can achieve but in the meantime, get ready with confidence, for 1 January trade on WTO terms, if we have to.
If Ursula is optimistic, then that’s great but as far as I can see, there are some serious and very, very, very difficult issues that currently separate the UK from the EU. And the best thing for everybody to do is … get ready to trade on WTO terms. There is a clarity and a simplicity in in that approach that you know has its own advantages, it’s not where we wanted to get to. But if we have to end up with that solution the UK is more than prepared.
Pressed on whether a deal is likely, Johnson added:
We’re going to continue to try. We’ll 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. I think our friends get it, and we remain willing to talk we’ll continue to do so. But in the meantime, let’s get ready for the WTO option and that’s what I told the cabinet.
Updated
In his Sky interview, Johnson warned that no deal is still more likely. And he said that his suggestion to talk to other EU leaders has been rejected by the EU. He said:
The UK certainly won’t be walking away from the talks. I think people will expect us to go the extra mile. I repeated my offer, which is if it’s necessary to talk to other capitals, then I’m very happy to do that. The commission is very determined to keep the negotiations on the way that they be done between us and the commission and that’s fine.
But I’m going to repeat the most likely thing now is of course that we have to get ready for WTO terms, Australia terms. And don’t forget, everybody, we’ve made huge preparations for this we’ve been at this for four and a half years … perhaps more intensively in the last couple of years than previously. But anyway, we’ve got ready. And anybody who needs to know what to do get on to gov.uk/transition, see what needs to be done and get ready for 1 January. Either way, whatever happens, the UK will do very, very well.
Updated
Johnson: 'we're still very far apart on some key things'
Boris Johnson has warned that the two sides are “very far apart on some key things”.
In quite a downbeat interview with Sky News, the prime minister said:
I’ve just talked to Ursula Von der Leyen and updated the cabinet about the contents of that call. On Wednesday, the hope was that we were going to be able to finish things off today, if there was a deal to be done.
As things stand, and this is basically what Ursula and I agreed. I’m afraid we’re still very far apart on some key things. But where there’s life, there’s hope we’re going to keep talking to see what we can do.
Updated
Business leaders have welcomed the continuation of talks:
Adam Marshall, the director general of British Chambers of Commerce, said:
This is a very frustrating time for business as they anxiously wait for decisions about the terms of trade with the EU come 1 January.
If a few more hours or days makes the difference, keep going – and get an agreement that delivers clarity and certainty to businesses and trade on both sides.
Businesses will need time and support to adjust in a new year like no other – whatever the eventual outcome.
Mike Hawes, the chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, said:
We welcome the commitment from both sides to continue talking and find a way through the political impasse – we now need negotiators to finish the job and agree the deal we all so desperately need, without further delay.
No deal would be nothing less than catastrophic for the automotive sector, its workers and their families and represent a stunning failure of statecraft. Quite simply, it has to be ruled out.
Tony Danker, the director general of the CBI, said:
The news that talks will continue gives hope. A deal is both essential and possible. It is the only way to build upon the extensive support for the economy given by all governments during the pandemic. Without it, that progress is undermined.
Ongoing delays are frustrating and cost businesses. But it is vital to make use of the time. Government must move with even more determination to avoid the looming cliff edge of 1 January.
Updated
The Spectator’s well-connected political editor, James Forsyth, says the decision to continue talks suggests progress is being made.
He highlights Raab’s focus on detail in this morning’s interviews and reports from the Sun’s Nick Gutteridge about how the EU/UK talks are haggling over managing divergence.
Dominic Raab’s media round this morning indicated that the issue is being narrowed down to the question of how broadly the EU could respond if it felt the UK was having a material effect on trade by diverging from EU standards. Nick Gutteridge reports that the two sides are now talking about a mechanism by which to manage divergence.
2 striking things about today’s joint statement from Johnson & von der Leyen. 1). No new deadline set for talks to conclude by. 2). Tone much more positive than the briefings that followed Wednesday night’s dinner https://t.co/IqdeEl41ph
— James Forsyth (@JGForsyth) December 13, 2020
The Northern Ireland protocol will act as a “parachute” even if there is no deal in Brexit talks, the freight industry has said.
Under the protocol, trade to Great Britain and the EU is protected.
Failure to reach agreement would result in “extra friction” on trade from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, said Seamus Leheny, policy manager for Logistics UK in Northern Ireland. He added:
The Northern Ireland protocol acts as a parachute for Northern Ireland in the event of a no-deal.
But a no-deal will result in extra friction on Great Britain to Northern Ireland trade and raises issues on Northern Ireland to Great Britain.
This is why we desperately need that deal.
Under the Northern Ireland protocol, trade in goods between Northern Ireland and Ireland, and between Northern Ireland and EU member states, will continue unaffected, with no change at the border, no new paperwork, and no tariffs or regulatory checks, official advice states.
Updated
Simon Coveney, the country’s foreign affairs minister, tweeted:
Time to hold our nerve and allow the negotiators to inch progress forward - even at this late stage. Joint statement on #Brexit negotiations is a good signal. A deal clearly very difficult, but possible. https://t.co/TfN0p9nQ9G
— Simon Coveney (@simoncoveney) December 13, 2020
Ireland’s Europe minister, Thomas Byrne, has told RTÉ’s The Week in Politics talking was always better than not talking.
We felt it needed to get away from a winner and loser scenario. If there is no deal, everyone is a loser. If there is a deal, we all win. Any deal is give and take – but give and take benefits everybody.
Updated
Helen Dickinson, the chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, has said the ongoing lack of clarity even now – less than three weeks before the end of the transition period – is causing problems for UK businesses.
The 11th hour has passed and every passing moment of uncertainty makes it harder for businesses to prepare effectively for 1 January.
Without a deal, the British public will face more than £3bn in food tariffs and retailers would have no choice but to pass on some of these additional costs to their customers, who would see higher prices filter though during 2021.
Moreover, new checks and red tape that will apply from 1 January will create an additional burden for retailers and their customers.
Retailers are doing everything they can to prepare for all eventualities on 1 January; increasing the stock of tins, toilet rolls and other longer life products so there will be sufficient supply of essential products.
They have also been building new customs and VAT processes, working with suppliers to ease logistics, and more.
While no amount of preparation by retailers can entirely prevent disruption, there is no need for the public to buy more food than usual as the main impact will be on imported fresh produce, such as fresh fruit and vegetables, which cannot be stored for long periods by either retailers or consumers.
Both sides must double down and do what is necessary to agree a zero-tariff agreement, or else it will be the public that pay the price of this failure.
With many people’s finances already strained by the economic impact of coronavirus, households can ill-afford a significant rise in food prices. For the sake of customers and businesses around the UK, we need a deal in the next three weeks.
Updated
Reacting to the news, a spokesperson for the Labour party has said:
The Conservatives promised the British people that they had an oven-ready deal and that they would get Brexit done. The government needs to deliver on that promise, get us the deal and allow us to move on as a country.
Sources had suggested the talks would now be able to continue beyond Sunday and several supposed deadlines have come and gone as the two sides failed to reach an agreement. It is interesting, therefore, that no new deadline has explicitly been set in that joint statement.
There is no new deadline for talks. And frankly, who would believe one if there was?
— Jessica Elgot (@jessicaelgot) December 13, 2020
It remains the case, however, that the transition period ends on 31 December 2020 – in 18 days’ time.
Updated
Brexit talks to continue, UK and EU say
Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen have released a joint statement saying talks can continue.
We had a useful phone call this morning. We discussed the major unresolved topics.
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.
We have accordingly mandated our negotiators to continue the talks and to see whether an agreement can even at this late stage be reached.
Updated
We’re expecting a formal statement within minutes but here’s another update from Jess Elgot:
Sources expecting negotiations to continue next week, both leaders expected to make statement before 12
— Jessica Elgot (@jessicaelgot) December 13, 2020
Charles Michel, the president of the European council, has said the EU will not lose its cool as talks approach their climax. Michel, who chairs EU summits, has told France Inter radio the EU wanted a good deal that respected the integrity of its single market.
My colleague Jess Elgot reports that Johnson will now brief his cabinet ministers.
Understand call is over and now Johnson will speak to cabinet.
— Jessica Elgot (@jessicaelgot) December 13, 2020
A statement from Johnson and Von der Leyen is expected at some point in the next hour.
Statement following the @BorisJohnson and @vonderleyen call is expected between 1130 and midday GMT/ 1230-1300 brussels. so deal/no deal -or 'no deal yet, let's keep talking' - verdict in around an hour https://t.co/ExWGHvTBxw
— iain watson (@iainjwatson) December 13, 2020
Updated
Negotiators 'making inroads', EU diplomat quoted as saying
EU and UK negotiators have made some progress on narrowing their differences in trade talks since Friday, EU sources have told the Reuters news agency, but there has been no decisive breakthrough on fair competition or fishing rights. One EU diplomat is quoted as saying:
They are making inroads on some difficult stuff. How to manage divergence and soften the blow for (EU) fishermen is still open.
Two EU officials confirmed that characterisation of the latest round in the Brexit talks ahead of a call between Johnson and Von der Leyen later on Sunday, Reuters reports.
Updated
The talks between teams led by the UK’s chief negotiator, David Frost, and his EU counterpart, Michel Barnier, ran until midnight on Saturday and resumed on Sunday at 9am in Brussels (8am UK time), with some signs of movement.
Johnson and Von der Leyen are due to speak within minutes but further conversations are likely later in the day. “As long as we are talking, we are progressing,” said one source in Brussels. A UK government source said “all hinges on the call.”
Von der Leyen agreed during a three-hour dinner on Wednesday evening that a “firm decision” would need to be made by the end of the weekend on whether there was any hope of a deal.
Both sides have said they would be willing to talk for a few more days if a final breakthrough could be achieved, although in the last 48 hours Johnson has talked up the chances of a no-deal exit from the transition period, calling it “very, very likely”.
Asked about the flow of medical supplies if no deal is struck, Raab has told the BBC:
Well, of course, with things like vaccines and more generally medical supplies the NHS and DHSC (Department of Health and Social Care) already have a widespread programme of stockpiling and security of supply.
So I actually think – you know, there may be shifts – but we’ve got enough diversity of supply.
Asked if he expects the value of the pound to drop as a result of a no-deal, Raab replied:
Look, I think with some of that is already baked in. I think there is likely to be … there has already been currency fluctuations. Of course, there is a flip side temporarily for that, it is a boost to exporters, but obviously it has a challenge domestically.
Updated
Raab claimed the EU has “shifted the goalposts”, telling the BBC’s Andrew Marr:
We were told a Canada-style agreement was available, you’ve just said it in your own terms, you’ve put it to me that the EU is not being now willing to offer us that.
So let us be very clear, if we are forced into this position it is because the EU wasn’t willing to treat us like any other independent third country would expect to be treated and, indeed, how the EU would expect to be treated.
He said he thought it absurd the EU has “taken the approach that it has which means that German car manufacturers, French fishermen and women, the French farmers would suffer”. The foreign secretary added:
And the common sense win-win in the free trade deal Canada-style is still there to be done. And it is not the UK that hasn’t shown the flexibility, the pragmatism – in the context of Northern Ireland, the joint committee, we’ve resolved all those issues.
Raab has been trying to put the ball in the EU’s court and paint a picture of a UK dealing in good faith with a partner that has not. In reality, as my colleague Jon Henley writes, what the EU was and was not willing to do has been clear for more than four years:
People would expect the Royal Navy to play a part in policing the UK’s territorial fishing waters if there is a no-deal Brexit, the foreign secretary has claimed, despite significant anger from his own party colleagues. Raab told the BBC:
The Navy has always been involved in coastguard operations.
I think if we leave the EU with no free trade deal – which we want, which we’re striving for – of course we’re going to exercise full control in the way I think people would expect over our fisheries.
Asked if the Royal Navy would be given extra powers to board foreign trawlers, Raab he did not think there would be “significant change” to the “granular operating rules” of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
He said the UK would enforce international rules in its waters in a “proportionate way” but argued it was “crazy” for France to be making “aggressive demands” when its fishermen would lose out if there was no agreement.
With the French, this is crazy to end up without a free trade deal when they’re making such aggressive demands on fisheries. If we leave without a free trade deal, they will have zero assured access to our fisheries.
Johnson-von der Leyen call expected around 11am GMT
Here’s a little update on the timing of that discussion between Johnson and von der Leyen from the latter’s spokesman:
Update to the agenda of President @vonderleyen:
— Eric Mamer (@MamerEric) December 13, 2020
➡️ phone call with UK Prime Minister @BorisJohnson around noon on the 🇪🇺🇬🇧 negotiations. (Brussels time)
That’s 11am in the UK.
Updated
Miliband, who has been speaking to the BBC this morning, accused Johnson of “playing Russian roulette” with the livelihoods of people in the UK by threatening a no-deal Brexit.
[Boris Johnson] has been cavalier. This is a man who is cavalier with our national interest and frankly, he is playing Russian roulette with the jobs and livelihoods of people up and down the country.
How dare he say it’ll be a wonderful outcome when we know the impact [of a no-deal] on our farmers.
I think it is ideological, this, I think people have to understand this. This is about the vision of the country we have in the future.
Do we want a country with high standards on the environment, high standards on workers’ rights, or do we want a country where we race to the bottom, where we try and deregulate our way to economic success?
It is about the vision of Britain this, it is in the end about what vision you have of the country and I say we don’t deregulate our way to economic success.
"No deal is a disastrous outcome for the country. It’s not a wonderful outcome. It’s a disgrace, frankly, that Boris Johnson said it," says Shadow Business Secretary Ed Miliband#Brexit https://t.co/qvhGW845Bt pic.twitter.com/PQoAww4Bnk
— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) December 13, 2020
Updated
The prime minister, Boris Johnson, is expected to speak with the European commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, around lunchtime, PA Media is reporting.
The agency says officials have confirmed that negotiations resumed in Brussels at 8am UK time (9am in Belgium).
Updated
The shadow business secretary, Ed Miliband, has said a no-deal Brexit would be “a disastrous outcome for the country”. He told the BBC:
What the government seems to be saying is we are willing to accept no deal, which would mean tariffs across the board, because of some future, theoretical threat maybe sometime in the future to have tariffs in relation to some products.
That makes no sense at all. That is like saying I’m worried that my roof is going to leak in five years’ time, so let’s bulldoze the house now.
I say no-deal is a disastrous outcome for the country, it is not a wonderful outcome and it is a disgrace frankly that Boris Johnson said it.
Asked if Labour would vote for a deal if it were achieved, Miliband said his party will “look at the detail”. Pushed further, he added: “We’ve said we’re minded to support it.”
Updated
After the pessimism of last night, there is broad agreement that a deal remains achievable.
Raab, the Irish taoiseach, Micheál Martin, and the UK’s former ambassador to the EU Sir Ivan Rogers, all agree on the point. The latter has suggested that to reach it, the talks will likely need to be extended, while Ireland’s leader said he hoped discussions would keep going beyond today.
Raab has said achieving a free trade deal “ought to be doable” and has sought to put the ball in the EU’s court. He has told Sky News:
First of all, as you’d expect, I’m making the case that if the EU had followed through on its commitments we’d have a free trade deal. It ought to be doable.
The foreign secretary added that the UK government “do want to get a deal if it’s at all possible”. Asked if talks could continue into the new year if no agreement is found, the foreign secretary said he would not “speculate on hypotheticals”, adding:
The reality is for the EU, their point of pressure is now. After 1 January, the idea that they are somehow going to win concessions later that they can’t win now I think is for the birds.
Rogers told Sky News it was unlikely any agreement between both sides would be reached today, though he was hopeful one could be reached in time.
It’s a very different question as to whether we get it by the end of the year. I think it’s odds-against today, but I’m not sure the talks will break down today either. Most of these deadlines in Brexit over many years have carried on being broken and I suspect this might be the latest. But we will see.
Martin said the “capacity still exists” to reach a deal and he would view a failure to do so as an “appalling failure of statecraft” by both sides. He told the BBC’s Andrew Marr show:
The level playing field area is one that has bedeviled the talks from the outset. In my view, with some degree of creativity, a resolution can be found in that area.
And he said he hoped a dialogue would continue after today.
Where the dialogue continues, that gives me hope.
Updated
The UK needs a deal “as soon as possible”, the president of the British Chambers of Commerce, Baroness Ruby McGregor-Smith, has said. She has told Sky News:
We need to understand how we are going to trade and what the rules are. I think it’s very difficult to be ready because there are a number of areas where we don’t have any detail at all. We don’t understand anything around quota tariffs or quotas. We don’t understand anything in detail about rules of origin.
We don’t have any tariff codes, we don’t know the detail of the Northern Ireland protocol and, if we do get a deal, we still don’t know what the UK structural fund is going to look like that’s going to support the more challenged areas of the UK.
We found with the pandemic what mattered was the detail of whatever has been agreed on government support and this is exactly going to be the same.
Updated
The shadow communities secretary, Steve Reed, has said the British people “cannot tolerate” a no-deal Brexit. He told Sky News:
The last thing we need is no-deal in these circumstances. It is one year and one day exactly since Boris Johnson won an 80-seat majority in the House of Commons promising to get Brexit done with an oven-ready Brexit deal that he had ready to agree with the European Union.
Now we are right at the 11th hour now aren’t we? The deal is not yet done, it needs to be got over the line because we cannot tolerate in this country the damage that a no-deal Brexit would do – and nor can we tolerate the uncertainty that a no-deal Brexit would do.
One of the reasons people voted to get Brexit done was they’ve had enough of four-and-a-half years of going round and round in circles over Brexit. They want this ended, they want confidence and security that we can move our country forwards.
A no-deal Brexit would simply mean the negotiations are restarted again next month, only Britain would be in a far weaker position. So Boris Johnson needs to now do what he told the country a year ago he was ready to do and get Brexit done.
Updated
González-Laya said she could not understand why fisheries had proved such a sticking point in the talks. The talks are reportedly stuck over a proposal from the EU for fishing rights in UK waters to continue unchanged for European trawlers for a decade. She told Sky News:
I just don’t understand why we cannot agree to agree on fishing. Fishing in the UK is 6,000 vessels employing 12,000 workers – that’s the magnitude of the problem, so I have difficulties understanding why we cannot agree to a landing zone on this.
Asked about the decision to deploy four Royal Navy boats to patrol UK waters in the event of no-deal, she added:
I think this is all for gallery, I don’t think this is serious and, by the way, I don’t think this is needed.
I think what would be more responsible is to sit down and agree what kind of relationship does the UK want with the European Union on fishing, again understanding that on this, like on the rest (of the issues), there are things for the UK to win, things for the EU to win – we just have to find this middle point.
A no-deal outcome should be avoided “at all costs”, Spain’s foreign minister, Arancha González-Laya, has said. She told Sky News:
No deal in the current circumstances would be extremely negative for our economies. And, if you go by what economists are saying – and there is plenty of literature on that, the UK would suffer even more than the European Union.
We both will suffer, more on the UK side, which I think is something we should try to avoid at all costs.
The foreign secretary claimed the UK has negotiated in good faith but the EU has “got to come to terms” with letting the UK gain independence.
We’ve gone into this with a spirit of pragmatism, of optimism, goodwill and what we’ve just found in the last analysis and at the last stage the EU has found letting go of its control over the UK very difficult – I think emotionally and politically if you like, they’ve got to come to terms with that.
Raab also warned that French fishing boats will have “zero access guaranteed” to the UK’s waters if there is no trade deal. Asked about navy ships patrolling the waters, he said:
The bottom line is, actually, if we do leave on WTO terms we’ll be an independent coastal state. Of course we’re going to enforce our waters around fisheries and whatever else.
And, of course, for the French and others that will mean – you know, forget those outlandish terms that they were asking of us – their fishing industries would have zero access guaranteed.
Raab says Johnson-von der Leyen phone call due 'later today'
Raab said there was no exact time he could give for the phone call between Boris Johnson and Europe’s top official Ursula von der Leyen, saying only that it would take place “later on today”. He said:
The exact time is not quite clear yet but it’ll happen later on today.
I think it’s important. The technical talks matter – getting creative solutions, understanding each other’s positions really matters.
But what ultimately is required at this 11th hour of the negotiation is moving the political logjam. That can only happen at the level of the prime minister and commissioner von der Leyen.
Asked whether talks could continue past Sunday, Raab said:
I can’t close the door on it but I think there is a way that the EU’s got to go to give us the reassurance on those two points. Of course if we’re 99% there on the outstanding issues, you wouldn’t want to leave any stone unturned but I think it’s quite a high bar.
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The UK has worked “very hard” at a technical level during the recent negotiations in Brussels, the Foreign Secretary has said, though he argued that there needs to be political “willing” to secure a Brexit trade deal. Dominic Raab has told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme:
I called in to check in with our team in Brussels, they’ve worked incredibly hard.
You remember the PM has made clear we want to leave no stone unturned, so we’ve been at it very hard at the working technical level, with all the usual jousting of positions.
But what really matters is what the EU is willing at a political level to commit to.
There’s a conversation that Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the (European) commission, will have with the prime minister later today - that’s when we’ll know.
But I think we need to be really clear there’s two fundamental issues at stake – the issue of fisheries and the issue of the so-called level playing field.
We want to be treated like any other independent self-respecting democracy. If the EU can accept that at a political level, then there’s every reason to be confident, but there is still I think a long way to go.
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'Deadline day' as the UK and EU resume post-Brexit trade talks
Today is the day the UK will find out whether or not its leaders have managed to negotiate a deal to replace its largest trading partnership in less than three weeks.
Talks have been going on over night in Brussels and Boris Johnson is due to speak with the European commission’ president Ursula von der Leyen later on Sunday.
Both sides have said Sunday must produce an agreement or the talks will fail, leaving the UK facing the prospect of lost jobs and higher food prices. Sceptics, however, will point out that similar deadlines have repeatedly been pushed back and some Tories have called for talks to continue even if this one is missed.
They are believed still to be some way apart and UK and EU leaders have warned a no-deal Brexit looks more likely than an agreement, with Johnson describing the former as “very, very likely” and the UK government has stepped up preparations; including some that have provoked anger from their own side.
Deadlock remains over the thorny issues of fishing rights and the so-called level playing field “ratchet” that would tie the UK to future EU standards.
Here’s what we’re expecting to happen today:
- The foreign secretary Dominic Raab is doing a round of the morning politics shows.
- Spain’s foreign minister Arancha González-Laya and the Irish taoiseach Micheál Martin are also due to appear, as is the president of the British Chambers of Commerce, Baroness Ruby McGregor-Smith.
- Johnson is expected to give a press conference or issue a recorded statement to update the nation once he finishes a call with Europe’s top official.
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