Brexit: Boris Johnson under growing pressure to seek extension of talks to avoid no deal

Senior Conservatives join Nicola Sturgeon and Sadiq Khan in calling for delay

Two senior Conservatives have added to pressure on Boris Johnson to seek an extension to the UK’s transition to Brexit beyond the end of 2020.

Tobias Ellwood and Simon Hoare, both chairs of influential Commons committees, joined Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon and London mayor Sadiq Khan in calling for more time to find a deal – to avoid a disruptive no-deal crash-out as the country struggles with the resurgent coronavirus crisis.

But Downing Street insisted that there would be no delay to the UK’s departure from EU structures including the single market and customs union, which is due to take place at 11pm on 31 December. 

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer also declined to back calls for an extension, instead urging the PM to strike a deal with Brussels.

After a meeting with EU legal experts, senior members of the European parliament on Monday said it was no longer possible for it to ratify any deal before the end-of-year deadline, after negotiators David Frost and Michel Barnier failed to meet their deadline of Sunday for reaching an agreement.

However, if there was to be a deal, under EU rules it could be provisionally signed off by leaders of the 27-member bloc with ratification delayed until 2021.

Downing Street characterised the talks, which continued in Brussels, as “difficult”, with “significant differences” remaining in the key areas of fisheries and the level-playing field on standards.

And Boris Johnson’s official spokesperson dismissed the idea of an extensions or a temporary “standstill” period maintaining current arrangements beyond the end of the year.

“Time is obviously in very short supply,” said the PM’s spokesperson. “Our position on a transition period is clear. It will end on 31 December,” he added.

Former foreign office minister Tobias Ellwood, chair of the Commons Defence Committee, said that the EU trade talks were “98 per cent complete”.

But he added: “These are far from ideal conditions to rationally determine our future prosperity and security terms. If there’s no deal by New Year, let’s do what’s best for the UK and pause the clock.”

And Northern Ireland committee chair Simon Hoare said it was “time for maturity” over the danger of leaving without a free-trade agreement and moving onto World Trade Organisation rules requiring tariffs on exports and imports.

“With the worsening Covid situation and time of the year, I’d really like to see the clock temporarily stopped on Brexit talks,” he said. “There’s no parliamentary time to scrutinise and agree a deal. Daily clarity of the dangers to our already-pressured economy of no deal is alarming. Time for maturity.”

With 48 hours needed to recall parliament to discuss any deal, time was running out for an agreement to be ratified in Westminster before Christmas, with speculation now focusing on a recall on 30 December to force legislation through the Commons and Lords in a single day.

MEP Manfred Weber, chair of the largest political grouping in the European parliament and a close ally of chancellor Angela Merkel, said it was too late for the body to approve a deal before the end of the year.

“Political games from Westminster have wasted too much time,” he said. “It is now impossible for parliament to assess a deal before the end of the year.

“We will not rubber-stamp any text, it is too important. As the only directly elected EU body, we should not rush our decision.”

And the head of the parliament’s socialist group, Iratxe Garcia Perez, said: “If the EU and UK reach a deal, there will be no time for the European parliament to study the text and give its consent before the year ends. Negotiations should continue, but the European Commission must find a legal way to ensure an orderly start to 2021 without a provisional implementation.”

In an apparent indication that he expects the parliament to accept being asked to approve a deal in retrospect next year, Mr Weber said: “We will remain constructive partners. Alternative procedures are possible. Council and commission will have to find a way forward.”

Eurosceptic MP Steve Baker pointed to the EU (Withdrawal Agreement) Act passed by Mr Johnson earlier this year, which specifically states that: “A minister of the crown may not agree in the Joint Committee to an extension of the implementation period.”

And  Georgina Wright of the Institute for Government said that an extension would be “a total minefield” which could not necessarily be completed before the end of the year.

As last year’s withdrawal agreement set a 30 June 2020 deadline for any extension, any delay would require the EU to establish a new treaty-backed legal basis for the action, while the UK would probably need to pass an act of parliament, she said, adding: “It is still possible to reach a deal and provisionally apply it before the end of the year. That seems – at this point in time – easier than trying to extend the transition period.”

Ms Sturgeon said the discovery of a new faster-spreading variant of Covid-19 made it “imperative” for the PM to get an extension.

“The new Covid strain – and the various implications of it – means we face a profoundly serious situation, and it demands our 100 per cent attention,” said Ms Sturgeon.

“It would be unconscionable to compound it with Brexit.”

Her view was echoed by Mr Khan: “Risking the chaos and uncertainty of a no-deal Brexit was reckless even before the latest surge in Covid cases and the worrying news about this latest strain.

“With the virus spreading rapidly and our hospitals increasingly stretched, the only thing the country should be concentrating on is fighting the virus.”

But Labour leader Sir Keir did not back the calls for an extension, instead calling on the prime minister to deliver a deal.

“Get that deal over the line today or tomorrow, don’t delay,” he said. “People were promised a deal and you must deliver that deal.”

Transport secretary Grant Shapps played down the impact of uncertainty over Brexit on businesses, insisting that they already knew that change was coming after 31 December and had been told to plan for it.

Extending the transition period would “add fuel to the fire” by creating extra uncertainty, he told BBC Breakfast.