UK companies appeal for Brexit deal as PM warns of potential failure

LONDON – UK businesses clamored for a compromise on Sunday when Prime Minister Boris Johnson said failure remains the “most likely” outcome of marathon post-Brexit trade talks with the European Union.

“I am afraid that we are still far apart on some key things, but where there is life there is hope,” Johnson told reporters, after agreeing with the head of the EU commission, Ursula von der Leyen, to go ahead with the negotiations. .

The couple had said they would decide whether or not a deal was possible by the end of the weekend, but agreed in a phone call to “go the extra mile” before the UK leaves the EU single market on December 31.

“The UK will certainly not walk away from the talks. I still think there is a deal to be made if our partners want to do it,” Johnson said at 10 Downing Street after briefing his Cabinet on the call.

But Britain could not compromise on the “fundamental nature” of Brexit, controlling UK laws and fisheries, he said.

“Most likely now, of course, we have to prepare for the terms of the WTO,” Johnson added, referring to tariffs and quotas on basic trade rules set by the World Trade Organization.

“There is a clarity and a simplicity to that approach that has its own advantages. It is not where we wanted to go … but the UK is ready,” he said.

“Either way, whatever happens, the UK will do very, very well.”

UK companies welcomed the deal to keep talking, but disagreed with Johnson’s cheerful forecasts for Britain’s future if it cuts all ties with its largest overall business partner starting in the New Year.

“Now we need negotiators to finish the job and agree on the deal that we all so desperately need,” tweeted the executive director of the Society of Engine Manufacturers and Dealers, Mike Hawes.

‘CATASTROPHIC’

Hawes added: “‘No Deal’ would be nothing short of catastrophic for the auto industry, its workers and their families, and would represent a staggering failure of the art of government. It just needs to be discarded.”

Nissan has warned that a no-deal Brexit would make its Sunderland car factory in northeast England, which employs more than 6,000 workers, unviable due to the reinstatement of tariffs on inter-channel trade.

Last week, Japanese automaker Honda suspended production at its British plant for a day after suffering a parts shortage, due to blockages at ports caused by the coronavirus pandemic and Brexit warehousing.

Even with a trade deal, the UK will remain outside the EU common market and businesses will face new regulations and customs formalities.

They warn that the government has failed to get vital IT systems ready on time, raising fears of transport stagnation on highways and ports.

The director general of the Confederation of British Industry, Tony Danker, said that the news of the continuation of the talks “gives hope” but demanded that the government fix the deployment of IT and offer more support to companies.

“An agreement is essential and possible. It is the only way to take advantage of the broad support to the economy provided by all governments during the pandemic. Without it, that progress is undermined,” he said in a statement.

The British Chambers of Commerce asked London and Brussels not to surrender.

“Even at this incredibly late hour, the message from business to the UK and EU leaders remains the same. Go ahead. Get a deal,” tweeted BCC CEO Adam Marshall.

But Johnson is under pressure from hardline Brexiters in his Conservative party not to back down.

“A long and complex legal agreement that locks the UK into many EU features that hinder us is not the Christmas present the UK needs,” said Conservative MP John Redwood.

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