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The EU will pay the price for failing to reach a trade deal with the UK, Dominic Raab claims, arguing that he is “worried” that Brexit will be a success.
Before the decisive decision to abandon the talks, the Foreign Secretary laid bare the icy atmosphere, lashing out at Brussels for its “extravagant” demands that “do not become any more reasonable with repetition.”
Raab said there are still “reasons to be sure” of a breakthrough, but warned that the EU would have to go “a long way” for the talks to be successful now.
And he warned Brussels that the terms being offered would not be more favorable next year, saying that “the reality for the EU is that its pressure point is now.
“After January 1, the idea that they could somehow win concessions later that they can’t win now is that I think it’s for the birds.”
Raab added: “I think the EU is concerned, actually, Britain will do quite well once we leave the EU and is concerned about competitive advantage.”
But the idea that the UK will be in a stronger position next year was ridiculed by Ed Miliband, Labor’s business secretary, who said: “No deal is not an end game.
“We will go through the pain, all the anguish. It is not a sustainable position to have rates with our largest market. We will have to return to the negotiating table ”.
The EU is determined to protect its single market from UK undercutting by lowering the “level playing field” on state aid, workers’ rights and the environment.
However, official forecasts predict that a no-deal will wipe £ 40bn out of the UK economy next year, leaving 300,000 people out of work, amid warnings of border chaos and rising prices for goods. foods.
Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, are expected to speak at lunch on Sunday and take a step back from the negotiations if they believe there is no prospect of their success.
The UK would then have to decide whether to accept the ‘mini deals’ proposed by Brussels – to keep planes in the air and trucks with food and medicine moving – but at the price of the competition rules it is demanding.
There is also a growing risk of fighting in the English Channel over fishing, where the UK is beefing up its defenses with four Royal Navy patrol boats as the EU seeks continued access to its fish-rich waters.
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