Japan’s richest man says Brexit is ‘impossible’
The boss of the European Union has said “we can have a deal” on Brexit in a huge boost to Boris Johnson as he prepares to remove a major sticking point.
World
Don't miss out on the headlines from World. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Jean-Claude Juncker has said “we can have a deal” and “Brexit will happen” in a major boost for UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
The EU boss warned a no-deal Brexit would have “catastrophic consequences” and said he was doing “everything to get a deal”.
Speaking to Sky News, he said he was prepared to get rid of the so-called backstop from a withdrawal agreement as long as “the objectives are met - all of them”.
The EU Commission president told Sky he’d been sent documents by the British PM outlining draft ideas for a new Brexit deal.
Mr Juncker said a deal would revolve around the idea that Northern Ireland would follow EU rules on food and agriculture, with other checks being done away from the border.
“It is the basis of a deal. It is the starting and the arrival point,” he said. “The internal market has to be preserved in its entirety.”
Yesterday, Mr Juncker warned the risk of a No Deal remains “very real”, but said he’s prepared to work “day in day out, morning until night” to strike a deal.
French president Emmanuel Macron set a new deadline of September 30 to end three years of frustrating talks and paint the UK into a corner.
Stephen Barclay, the UK’s Brexit secretary, said last night Australian time the EU needed to be flexible.
“A rigid approach now at this point is no way to progress a deal and the responsibility sits with both sides to find a solution,” he said in Spain.
Mr Barclay said the UK had already conceded that there could be single rules for food and animal checks in Ireland however, it has not yet handed over written documents for fear of leaks.
“We are committed to carving out a landing zone and we stand ready to share relevant texts,” he said.
“But it must be in the spirit of negotiation with flexibility and with a negotiating partner that itself is willing to compromise.”
Mr Johnson has vowed Britain will leave Europe on October 31 despite a new law demanding he ask for more time on October 19 if a deal cannot be done.
Mr Barclay said Mr Johnson would abide by the law but would “test” exactly what it meant.
There have been claims he could send one letter asking for an extension, as required by law, and another letter arguing why it should not be done.
The details of Mr Macron’s plans to cut Brexit talks short by a month came after he met with Finland’s Prime Minister Antti Rinne.
Mr Rinne said European leaders were frustrated with the UK’s stance, and would back Mr Macron’s new timeline.
“We need to know what the UK is proposing. Loose talk about proposals for negotiations is irresponsible,” he said.
“We are … concerned about what is happening in Britain right now and the confusion that is spreading out from there to Europe.”
Meanwhile Japan’s richest man warned Brexit is “practically impossible” and could take the United Kingdom back to the economic stagnation of the 1970s when the country was often described as the “sick man of Europe”.
Tadashi Yanai, the billionaire founder and CEO of Fast Retailing — the clothing empire which owns Uniqlo — said the United Kingdom had benefited for many years from being an open economy.
Brexit would change that, he said, and would prompt many talented people to look for employment elsewhere.
Mr Johnson has remained positive despite also facing a landmark legal challenge in the UK Supreme Court over whether he misled the Queen when asking her to suspend parliament.
The case continued last night, with former UK prime minister John Major due to speak against Mr Johnson.
In the UK Supreme Court case, Mr Johnson’s lawyer Sir James Eadie claimed that the judiciary did not have the power to rule on the activities of the parliament.
However, Aidan O’Neill, a lawyer for politicians who challenged Mr Johnson’s suspension of parliament, labelled him the “father of lies.”
“Rather than allow lies to triumph, this court should listen to the angels of its better nature,” he told the panel of 11 judges.
The British PM had several talks with European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker this week.
Discussions focused on how to find an alternative to the Irish backstop, which was rejected because it could permanently link the UK to some EU customs rules.
Ireland has been working hard to sort out a new solution to the backstop, with the country’s Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney saying a no-deal Brexit would cause disruption.
The Irish Government has been preparing an emergency stimulus budget in the case of a no-deal.
Meanwhile, polls suggest that Mr Johnson’s popularity has increased since he suspended parliament as voters become tired of Brexit debates three years after the EU referendum.
And Labour has been distracted as it fails to offer a clear position on whether it supports Brexit, as a general election looms in November because Mr Johnson has lost his majority in parliament.
Originally published as Japan’s richest man says Brexit is ‘impossible’