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The source attacked Brussels after Boris Johnson stated that Britain should prepare for a deal in a statement on Friday. Following the prime minister’s announcement, UK chief negotiator Lord Frost told his EU counterpart Michel Barnier not to travel to London next week to continue negotiations.
The government source said: “Rather than enter into meaningful negotiation, the EU seemed to think that they could race against the clock to force the UK to make concessions.
“If you thought that, you have made a big mistake in judgment about this government compared to its predecessors.”
In his statement, Johnson was enraged that the EU was not prepared to offer the Canada-style deal that the UK has requested.
He said: “They want the continued ability to control our legislative freedom, our fisheries, in a way that is obviously unacceptable to an independent country.”
“Given that this summit seems to explicitly rule out a Canadian-style deal, I think we should be ready for January 1 with arrangements more like Australia.”
The UK left the EU on January 31 and is in a transition period until the end of the year.
Fishing has proven to be the biggest obstacle in negotiations on a post-Brexit free trade agreement.
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8.20am update: Redwood taunts Barnier in scathing tirade
Brexit supporter Sir John Redwood has criticized Michel Barnier and told the EU chief negotiator to stay in Brussels “unless he understands that we intend to be independent” following Boris Johnson’s defiant warning to Brussels.
Sir John praised the Prime Minister’s decision, calling it a “breakthrough”.
Speaking to Brexit Unlocked’s Martin Daubney and Lucy’s Belinda, the Conservative MP issued a scathing assessment of the EU, saying they “shouldn’t expect to send us any more.
8am update: Gove insists UK is ‘increasingly well prepared’ not to reach a deal
Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove said: “This is not my preferred destination and there will be turbulence on the way.
“I am neither cheerful nor indifferent to challenges, but if the choice is between arrangements that tie our hands indefinitely, or where we can shape our own future, then there is no choice at all.
“And starting on Australian terms is a result for which we are increasingly well prepared.”
7:30 am update: farmers make final call to change agriculture bill
The National Farmers Union (NFU) has called on Parliament to adopt an amendment to the Farm Bill that they say will protect UK food standards in future trade deals.
The government won a vote in the Commons last week to reject the House of Lords amendment to the bill that would have required agricultural and food imports to meet national standards.
NFU President Minette Batters wrote in the Mail on Sunday: “I hope Parliament, next week, will put the Farm Bill to bed, accept Lord Curry’s amendment to strengthen the Trade Commission and Agriculture, provide a legal base from which to operate and Deputies have the role of agreeing on our future trade agreements. “
The government has insisted that existing protections are already in place and have no intention of diluting them.
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