Boris Johnson to threaten EU with no-deal if Brexit talks stall

Boris Johnson will tell the EU that Britain will opt for no-deal unless there is a sign of agreement by the end of next month.

Boris Johnson visits a Marks & Spencer in east London on Sunday. Picture: AFP

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will try to force the pace of Brexit talks by telling the EU on Monday night that Britain will opt for no-deal unless there is a sign of agreement by the end of next month.

The head of the World Trade Organisation warned Mr Johnson on Sunday, however, that relying on WTO terms under no-deal would slow Britain’s recovery from coronavirus, saying sticking closer to present ­arrangements would be better for jobs.

WTO director-general Roberto Azevedo said the car industry and agriculture would be hit particularly hard by any failure to ­secure a deal as they would be subject to heavy tariffs under default trade rules.

Mr Johnson wants to agree on a deal that keeps tariff-free access to EU markets but has insisted that Britain has nothing to fear by trading on WTO terms, to which relations would default if no agreement were reached by January 1.

In a video call on Monday night with European Council president Charles Michel, European Commission president ­Ursula von der Leyen and European parliament president David Sassoli, Mr Johnson will urge “renewed energy and commitment” in negotiations.

Five weeks of talks are due to begin on June 29 and Mr Johnson will express hope that a breakthrough can be made on fishing rights and the EU’s insistence that Britain follow Brussels rules in areas such as state aid.

However, Mr Johnson will say if there is no sign of a deal, it will be better to give business certainty about future rules by ­planning for no-deal.

On Friday, Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove, who was also to join the call on Monday night, ruled out extending the transition period beyond this year. However, he agreed to a six-month delay before introducing full border checks and collecting tariffs.

The WTO has predicted that global trade could fall by a third because of the pandemic.

Speaking on the BBC, Mr ­Azevedo said: “The less disruption the better, the less turbulence the better, and less turbulence is the closest to where you were before. So if you can maintain the degree of integration and relationship that you had before Brexit, it is less traumatic than if you have to go to WTO terms.”

While WTO terms were “not a catastrophe”, he said they “will impose a number of adjustments and those can be painful, particularly for some sectors”.

However, he thought there was “a good chance that agreement will be reached”, saying: “It’s going to be tough; there was never any doubt about that. But if the political will is there, if people ­realise that a no-deal scenario is much less than optimal, I’m pretty confident negotiators could do this in a reasonable way with a reasonable timeframe.”

A cross-party group of MPs will urge the government to allow a vote on extending the transition period, pointing to polls showing that voters would support it.

Layla Moran, the Liberal Democrat leadership candidate, said: “No-deal Brexit at the end of this year would strike a devastating blow to people’s livelihoods, businesses and the NHS just as we begin to turn the corner from the coronavirus. It’s not too late to stop this monumental act of ­national self-harm … and agree to an extension.”

The Times