Wednesday, 09 September 2020_After six long months, negotiations between the UK and the European Union are yet to produce a post-Brexit trade deal. The British government says it has made up its mind, and will leave without a deal if the two sides don’t reach an agreement by an October 15 deadline, a scenario the EU says it will be ready for.
Since that speech, the UK has left the EU but is still in the single market until the end of the year, meaning Brexit isn’t over yet, despite what the British prime minister promised months ago.
It turns out that campaign trail claim was half-baked, with Mr. Johnson now saying a no-deal would be a good outcome. He’s also denying allegations he’s trying to renege on parts of the EU withdrawal agreement.
But what are those "minor clarifications" that the British government is talking about? Well, it has to do with the thorny issue of northern Ireland and how to avoid a so-called hard-border.
It’s already been agreed that there’ll have to be some new customs arrangements for goods going between Britain and Northern Ireland. The EU and UK have been thrashing out the details of how that will work together, but now the UK government is going it alone and writing its own rule.
Something that’s already drawn a reaction inside the Johnson government: the head of his government’s legal department has resigned; The EU and Ireland have minced no words: Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin says Britain's trade talks with the European Union would be rendered "null and void" if the Brexit withdrawal agreement it signed up to is not implemented in full.
The latest round of Brexit talks has gotten underway here in London, with experts saying the frustration and blood-curdling vows from the negotiating partners do not necessarily mean that a deal won't be reached or that in the end there won't be compromise.
With or without a deal, we’re leaving: something we may have heard the British government said many times before. But from the looks of it, this latest round of negotiations could put an end to the Brexit saga once and for all.
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