UK PM Boris Johnson warns EU over Brexit trade talks: Back down or it’s no-deal

LONDON:

British PM Boris Johnson

warned

the European Union

on Wednesday it must scrap demands which he says are unacceptable if there is to be a Brexit trade deal to avoid a turbulent breakup in three weeks. With fears growing of a chaotic no-deal finale to the five-year Brexit crisis, Johnson reached Brussels for talks with European Commission President

Ursula von der Leyen

over dinner at 1930 GMT. Both sides cast the meeting as a chance to unlock the stalled trade talks but acknowledge there is a danger that there may be no trade deal in place when

Britain

finally leaves the EU’s orbit on December 31.


Ahead of his departure, Johnson said Brussels wanted the UK to comply with new EU laws in the future or be automatically punished, and was insisting it give up sovereign control over British fishing waters. “I don’t believe that those are terms that any prime minister of this country should accept,” he told the British parliament to cheers from Conservative leaders.

A UK government source said a deal may not be possible, as did EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier and a French official. “The probability of a no-deal is increasing,” the French official said.