Brexit trade deal talks set to continue despite the deadline fast approaching

Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen have confirmed in a joint statement that talks for a Brexit trade deal are still ongoing, despite today’s (Sunday, December 13) deadline.

Both leaders have agreed to “go the extra mile” in an attempt to secure a deal after almost a year of negotiations.

The statement from Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen said: “We had a useful phone call this morning. We discussed the major unresolved topics.

“Our negotiating teams have been working day and night over recent days.

“And despite the exhaustion after almost a year of negotiations, despite the fact that deadlines have been missed over and over we think it is responsible at this point to go the extra mile.

“We have accordingly mandated our negotiators to continue the talks and to see whether an agreement can even at this late stage be reached.”

It comes as both sides have held briefings to prepare for a no-deal Brexit and as it stands, there is a lot of uncertainty surrounding January 1 when the UK officially leaves the European Union.

On Friday, December 11, a Nissan source warned that “there is no Plan B”, highlighting the car giant has only been planning for Brexit on the basis that there will be a deal.

Earlier today, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said there was “still a long way to go” to find resolutions for some of the outstanding issues.

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