UK is not scared of no-deal exit

UK’s Brexit negotiator says government is not 
scared of no-deal exit

The UK’s chief negotiator has said the government is not scared of walking away from talks with the European Union without a deal and vowed not to blink in the final phase.

PA Media

6 September 2020, 9 hrs ago

© Rex/Shutterstock David Frost, the chief Brexit negotiator, is beginning another 
round of talks with the EU on Monday.

The UK’s chief negotiator has said the government is not scared of 
walking away from talks with the European Union without a deal
and vowed not to blink in the final phase.

David Frost is due to hold another round of key negotiations in 
London with his counterpart, Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief
negotiator, next week as they look to agree a trade deal before
autumn sets in.

In a bullish interview with the Mail on Sunday (MoS), the prime 
minister’s Europe sherpa said the UK was preparing to leave the
transition period “come what may” – even if that meant exiting
with no deal, which officials have dubbed an “Australian-style”
arrangement.

Informal talks this week between Barnier and Lord Frost failed to
find a breakthrough before the eighth round of formal negotiations,
which begin on Monday.

© Daniel Pier/NurPhoto EU's Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier attends at the meeting 

of French employers' association Medef themed 'The Renaissance of French 

Companies' on August 26, 2020, in Paris, France. (Photo by Daniel Pier/NurPhoto via 

Getty Images)

Both sides want a deal agreed next month in order to have it signed off 

by politicians on both sides of the Channel by the end of the transition 

period on 31 December.

Differences remain between the pair on issues such as fishing and the
level of taxpayer support the UK will be able to provide for businesses
once it is an independent nation.

Frost told the newspaper the UK would not agree to being a “client
state” to the EU and said Theresa May’s administration had allowed
Brussels to believe there could be an 11th-hour concession on a trade
deal.

He said: “We came in after a government and negotiating team that
had blinked and had its bluff called at critical moments and the EU had 

learned not to take our word seriously.

Gallery: Brexit timeline (Photo Services) 

(Note: To view this, click on the link at the end of this article)

1/48 SLIDES © Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Back in January 2013, then-British Prime Minister David Cameron declared that he is in favour of an in-out 

referendum, sometime in the future, to create a new settlement for the U.K. in the European Union (EU). It 
set in motion a series of negotiations between the two bodies over the former's withdrawal from the latter, 

popularly known as Brexit.

We take a look at a timeline of the negotiations and some of Brexit’s most important developments.

“So a lot of what we are trying to do this year is to get them to realise that we mean what we say and they should take our position seriously.”

The former diplomat, who is soon to add national security adviser to his portfolio, continued: “We are not going to be a client state. We are not going to compromise on the fundamentals of having control over our own laws.”

He ruled out accepting level playing field terms that “lock us into the 
way the EU do things” and argued that wanting control over the 
country’s money and affairs “should not be controversial”.

“That’s what being an independent country is about, that’s what the British people voted for and that’s what will happen at the end of the year, come what may,” Frost added.

© WIktor Szymanowicz/NurPhoto Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Michael Gove leaves Downing 

Street in central London after attending Cabinet meeting at the Foreign Office on 01 September 2020 in 

London, England. Parliament returns after summer recess amid the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic. 

(Photo by WIktor Szymanowicz/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

The MoS reported that Downing Street has created a transition hub, with handpicked officials across government departments working to ensure the UK is ready to trade without a deal when the transition
period ceases on 1 January 2021.

The unit will work with the Cabinet Office minister, Michael Gove, who
has led the government’s work on no-deal preparations since last year.

“Obviously, lots of preparation was done last year, we are ramping up again and have been for some time under Michael Gove’s authority,” Frost said.

“I don’t think that we are scared of this at all. We want to get back the powers to control our borders and that is the most important thing.

Britain's chief negotiator David Frost (L) and EU's Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier arrive for a working 
breakfast after a seventh round of talks, in Brussels on August 21, 2020. (Photo by YVES HERMAN / 
POOL / AFP) (Photo by YVES HERMAN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

“If we can reach an agreement that regulates trade like Canada’s,
great. If we can’t, it will be an Australian-like trading agreement
and we are fully ready for that.”

His comments came as the EU sought to dismiss a report in the
Telegraph that Barnier would be “sidelined” before the talks were
over so European leaders could thrash out a deal before the deadline.

But bloc spokesman Sebastian Fischer tweeted on Saturday: “Whoever wants to engage with the EU on Brexit needs to engage with Michel Barnier.

“He is the EU’s Brexit chief negotiator and enjoys the full trust, support and confidence of the EU 27. He has a proven track record of leading successful Brexit negotiations on behalf of the EU.”

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