Plans for no-deal Brexit as Britain prepares to walk out on EU talks

Britain has increased planning for a no-deal Brexit as the UK prepares to ‘walk away’ from trade talks with Brussels.

The Brexit committee chaired by Michael Gove will now met regularly to prepare for the prospect that no deal will be struck with Brussels. Picture: AFP

Britain has increased planning for a no-deal Brexit as senior government figures said the UK was preparing to “walk away” from trade talks with Brussels in the next month unless the EU gives ground.

The government’s XO (exit operations) no-deal planning committee, chaired by Michael Gove, met twice in one week at the start of May and senior officials say it will now sit regularly to prepare for the prospect that no trade deal is struck.

In a clear signal of intent, civil servants who had been moved to deal with the coronavirus crisis have been sent back to work full-time on no-deal preparations.

“XO is moving to a more regular rhythm over the next week or so,” a source said.

David Frost, Britain’s chief negotiator, told the cabinet on Thursday that Britain needed to prepare for an Australian-style departure, the government’s code for trading on World Trade Organisation terms, from January.

Britain legally left the EU at the end of January but is locked in a transition period until December 31.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his aides have repeatedly made clear that they will not seek an extension to this deadline and Mr Frost told ministers last week that the EU was finally “absolutely clear that we will not extend”.

Last week a third round of talks between Mr Frost and Michel Barnier, the EU’s negotiator, ended in deadlock as the UK refused to accept EU demands for a level playing field that would bind Britain into EU regulations in perpetuity.

This week Britain will publish legal texts showing that the government is only demanding terms already offered to countries such as South Korea or Norway. But EU officials insist Britain’s size and proximity to the union means it needs to accept more European regulations.

Unless the EU changes tack, Britain is prepared to walk away from the talks, a senior No 10 figure privately revealed. Under one proposal, Mr Frost could play “bad cop”, leaving Mr Johnson to swoop in as “good cop” later in the year to secure a deal. A cabinet minister said: “Boris told us he still thinks there will be a deal.”

But for the first time, senior ­officials in Brussels — who have previously doubted that Britain would seek no-deal — believe that is the most likely outcome.

One senior EU official said there was “no political electricity” around the talks, and added: “I think that this government may indeed want to go for no deal. It’s politically not unattractive for a critical mass within this cabinet.”

The source suggested that Mr Frost might be “more interested in a political career” or in “grandstanding than finding a solution”. He added: “If nothing moves then I suppose that both sides will go to no-deal planning.”

That outcome would not be popular with voters, according to a new poll which found that even 49 per cent of Leave voters back an extension to the transition period. Of those leave voters who want a delay, 57 per cent said the government should extend the period by up to a year, while 43 per cent said it should be extended indefinitely.

The polling, commissioned by the cross-party pro-EU campaign group Best for Britain and Hope not Hate, reveals that among Conservative voters 48 per cent support an extension to the transition period.

Overall, 66 per cent of people from all parties are in favour of a delay.

Best for Britain chief executive Naomi Smith described the government’s “extreme stance” on the issue as “deeply worrying”. She said: “The views of small-c conservative voters in our data is telling. It’s patronising to suggest they would punish the government at the ballot box for prioritising the country’s health over an arbitrary exit date.”

Former Tory cabinet ministers Michael Heseltine, Dominic Grieve and Stephen Dorrell united on Saturday to call on the government to extend the transition period. They have each recorded video messages for the European Movement.

The Sunday Times