UK PM and chief negotiator to discuss whether talks with EU should continue or not

Britain’s chief negotiator David Frost will talk to Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday about whether talks with the European Union should continue or not, said Sky News reporter Sam Coates.

“David Frost set to talk to Boris Johnson today about whether talks should continue or there’s no point and we should move to planning for no trade deal,” said Coates on twitter. 

Meanwhile, Reuters reported that European Union leaders will authorise their chief negotiator Michel Barnier to continue negotiations with Britain on a trade deal in “coming weeks”, draft conclusions of an EU summit in Brussels showed on Thursday.

“The European Council invites the Unionʼs chief negotiator to continue negotiations in the coming weeks, and calls on the UK to make the necessary moves to make an agreement possible,” the draft conclusions, seen by Reuters, said.

Earlier, a British  junior minister said Britain cannot tell businesses to prepare at the last minute if talks between London and Brussels fail to agree a Brexit deal so Prime Minister Boris Johnson will need to make a decision sooner rather than later.

“If we can’t get a deal, rightly so, we’ve got to allow businesses to prepare,” junior business minister Nadhim Zahawi told Sky News.

“I can’t go to businesses at the 11th hour on the 31st of December… We have to make a decision much sooner.”