Coronavirus: Brexit trade talks set to be shelved due to outbreak, Michael Gove reveals

‘We have had indications today, from Belgium, that there may be specific public health concerns’

The next round of post-Brexit trade talks is likely to be shelved because of the coronavirus crisis, Michael Gove has revealed.

The government has received “indications today” that the EU wants to postpone the negotiations – scheduled to start in London on 18 March – MPs were told.

Calling it “a live question”, the minister overseeing the talks said he had been “looking forward” to the next stage, including a meeting of the joint committee overseeing implementation of the withdrawal agreement on 30 March.

“We have had indications today, from Belgium, that there may be specific public health concerns,” he said.

The development threatens to have huge consequences for the likelihood of the UK crashing out of the post-Brexit transition period at the end of the year without a trade deal – with the risk of a recession.

Boris Johnson has set a deadline of June for the two sides to make progress – threatening to walk away without it – yet they remain miles apart after a difficult opening four-day round of talks in Brussels last week.

The UK is demanding the right to break free of UK rules – despite signing up to the EU’s “level playing field” demand last year – and there are rows over fishing and the future role of the European Court of Justice.

Speaking to a Commons committee, Mr Gove insisted he remained optimistic about sufficient progress by June and of a striking a trade deal by December.

But, in comments that will alarm security chiefs, he admitted: “I think, on national security, we may not necessarily have concluded everything by the 31st [of December].”

Without a security pact, the UK risks losing access to vital EU databases that track terrorists and serious criminals potentially seeking to enter the country.

Mr Gove’s claim that the EU is likely to pull the talks comes despite Joao Vale de Almeida, the EU’s ambassador to UK, saying earlier that they were scheduled to go ahead.

Mr Vale de Almeida argued the crisis underlined the need for the EU and UK to stay close, saying: “If you look at the coronavirus situation, it shows the limits of national action, and the need for international cooperation.”

In his evidence, Mr Gove also dismissed experts’ assessment that the UK is already £200bn poorer since the Brexit referendum, saying: “I don’t recognise, or would contest, that figure.”

He claimed the UK could “become more prosperous” by leaving the EU, despite official forecasts of a sharp GDP dip under the hard Brexit he seeks.

Any delay to the talks will fuel pressure on Mr Johnson to reverse his refusal to extend the transition period beyond December 2020, but No 10 has repeatedly insisted he will not do that.