Brexit trade talks put on ‘pause’
Brexit trade talks have been paused after negotiators in London and Brussels failed to reach an agreement, insisting that significant divergences still remain.
Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, will discuss the state of play in a telephone call on Saturday with just weeks remaining until the end of the transition period.
Despite suggestions of an “imminent” agreement, the UK government’s negotiator, Lord David Frost, and his EU counterpart, Michel Barnier, issued a joint statement on Friday evening offering a pessimistic assessment of the negotiations.
We agreed today that the conditions for an agreement are not met, due to significant divergences on a level playing field, governance and fisheries, they said.
We agre...