the brexit trade talks are continuing
beyond today's deadline after the uk
and the eu agreed that their negotiators
should keep talking
major issues are still unresolved but
after a telephone call this morning
boris johnson and ursula von de line
said that they would go the extra mile
the prime minister has repeated that a
no deal scenario was most likely
but that the two sides would be as
creative as possible
our political correspondent ian watson
reports
are there still barriers in the way of a
trade deal with brussels
today the latest deadline was discarded
but the prime minister says
some distance still remains between the
two sides
as things stand i'm afraid we're still
very far apart on some key things
but where there's life there's hope
we're going to keep
talking to see what we can do the uk
certainly won't be
walking away from the talks and the eu
commission president said
both sides would make a last-gasp effort
to reach agreement
despite the exhaustion after
almost one year of negotiations and
despite the fact that deadlines have
been missed over and over
we both think that it is responsible at
this point in time
to go the extra mile so why does a
tangible gap remain between the two
sides
well there's still squabbling over what
access eu fishing fleets would have to
uk waters
and over how any wider trade deal would
be policed
if the two sides adopt different rules
in the future
as well as talking to the eu commission
president today boris johnson spoke to
his cabinet colleagues
despite agreeing to more talks in
brussels he told them that
no deal was still the more likely
outcome we have to get ready for
wto terms there is a clarity and a
simplicity
in in that approach uh that you know has
its own
advantages so what are wto
or world trade terms well it means
tariffs or
taxes would be imposed from january the
first and goods going from our shores to
the eu
and vice versa pushing up some prices in
the process
but this could be avoided if a deal is
struck soon
now neither downing street nor brussels
have set themselves yet another deadline
these tend to come and go in any case
but i'm told informally
that the question of deal or no deal
needs to be settled in the next few days
and despite the apparent pessimism in
there it's important to note
that detailed discussions are still
continuing so the prospect of a deal
can't be completely ruled out in fact
the irish government believes a deal is
within reach
if both sides show willing 97
of this deal has been negotiated across
judicial security research a whole range
of areas
and it seems to me that the remaining
three percent should not be beyond the
capacity
of both sides to bridge and labour
argues that there's no logic
to no deal what the government seems to
be saying
is we are willing to accept no deal
which would mean tariffs
across the board because of some future
theoretical threat
maybe sometime in the future to have
tariffs in relation to some
products now that makes no sense at all
that's like saying i'm worried that my
roof is going to leak in five years time
so let's bulldoze the house now today
the negotiating teams have been given
the green light to continue
but the direction of travel remains
uncertain
now sources close to the british side of
the negotiations are saying look if
there hadn't been any progress
talks would indeed have been called off
today one of them put it like this
the process still has some legs but
those legs tend to be strolling not
running
and they could even stumble because i'm
also being told the more detailed the
discussions become
the more problems are being thrown up
now boris johnson says look the uk can
prosper without a deal
but his critics inside as well as
outside the conservative party are
saying that if we leave without a trade
agreement
with a single biggest market that will
prove very costly
ian thank you very much ian watson in
westminster and let's turn now to our
europe editor katya adler who's in
brussels what do you
think the extension of the talks means
katya
well of course that we've talked many
times that neither the government nor
the eu
wants to get the blame in case it comes
to no deal
so michelle could it be possible that
they're only still talking
because neither side wants to be the
first to walk away
absolutely not is what i'm hearing from
eu contacts close to the talks they say
both sides
are trying to be very constructive in
the negotiating room
although big political decisions still
need to be taken
so where do we go from here what are the
both sides going to decide
what we know is that neither side is
going to sign up to this deal
unless they can sell it at home as a
victory for the uk
of course that would say it's protected
its national sovereignty after brexit
uh for the eu it would mean protecting
the single market
and until then there just won't be any
deal katya adler in brussels
thank you very much well business groups
have welcomed the decision to keep the
effort to get a trade deal going our
business editor simon jack
is here in the studios we still don't
have an answer to how all of this ends
simon and yet there are
immediate decisions that need to be made
how are businesses coping
it feels like torture this doesn't it
another extension but it could have been
worse as you rightly say business groups
say
as long as still still talking there's
still a chance of a deal because without
one they could have stood up today and
said we're throwing in the towel that's
it and at that point what means
on january the first the e would be
legally obliged important point
i wouldn't choose to do this to bring in
terms the wto terms treat
the uk like everyone else it doesn't
have a trade deal and that means 10
tariffs on cars 48 on some forms of lamb
it would knock two percent off national
income according to the obr the official
the office of budget responsibility
that's 40 billion pounds
so their stakes are still very high
having said that this extension does
create problems
firms need to be able to price and label
their goods for next year they don't
know how to do that
and psychologically if people keep
thinking this can some
rabbit come out of the hat at the 11th
hour they'll take their foot off the gas
and doing some of the things they need
to do whether we get a deal or not
so it wouldn't put them out of their
misery if we had said no deal right now
but if we do get no deal
i'm afraid it could put some firms out
of business simon jack
thank you