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Michel Barnier has delivered a blow to Boris Johnson’s election promise to “get Brexit done” by admitting privately that trade negotiations cannot be finished in an 11-month timetable.
In the leaked recording, obtained by The Independent, the EU’s chief negotiator is heard telling a closed meeting of senior MEPs in Brussels that wrapping up trade talks by 2021 is “unrealistic”.
“With regards to this agreement, we will not get everything done in 11 months. We will do all we can – we won’t do it all,” Mr Barnier, who was recently reappointed to lead the next round of Brexit talks for the EU, can be heard saying.
He continues: “It is unrealistic that a global negotiation can be done in 11 months, so we can’t do it all. We will do all we can to get what I call the ‘vital minimum’ to establish a relationship with the UK if that is the time scale.”
Mr Barnier added that without a further extension of EU rules and regulations to Britain there would be another “cliff-edge” that could see Britain crash out on WTO rules.
“If there is no extension, we will still have a few months to achieve what I would describe as the minimum necessary for the economy and security or to prepare for a cliff-edge,” he said.
He adds that a decision would have to be taken by the government in June.
“Either we have a trade agreement or we will be in the WTO framework. We can’t take contingency measures on trade to give us more time … If there’s no deal, it is a cliff edge for trade.”
The revelations come just a day before UK voters head out to cast their ballots and after latest polls showed a narrowing lead for the Conservative Party ahead of Labour.
Andrew Gwynne, Labour’s Campaign Coordinator, responding to the leaked recording, said:“Boris Johnson is playing the British public for fools. He’s hiding in fridges to dodge interviews precisely because his fake Brexit slogans can’t stand up to scrutiny, just like his empty words on the NHS.
“Johnson’s sell-out Brexit deal will put us on the fast-track to a cliff-edge No Deal Brexit. And that’s exactly what he wants, so he can drive the UK into a toxic trade deal with Trump and put the NHS up for sale to US drug companies.
“The only place Johnson’s sell-out Brexit deal should go is into the deep freeze, just like Johnson when he doesn’t have the guts to face a reporter.”
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