No 10 refuses to say whether conditions attached to
EU's no-deal contingency plans acceptable
The Downing Street lobby briefing has just finished.
Here are the main points.
Downing
Street has refused to commit to agreeing to the no deal contingency plans
published by the European commission this morning. (See 10.38am.) The plans
would involve the EU continuing to have access to UK waters for fishing and
road freight access to the EU continuing as now, provided the UK accept fair
competition rules. Asked if the UK could agree to these plans, the prime
minister’s spokesman just said that the UK would be studying the proposals and
that it had its own no deal contingency plans. But he stressed that the UK was
committed to taking back control of its waters from next year. He said:
I think as
we’ve said throughout the negotiations, once we leave the end of the transition
period, we will take back control of our waters. We would never accept
arrangements and access to UK fishing waters which are incompatible with our
status as an independent coastal state.
(Being an
independent coastal state does not mean never allowing EU boats access to UK
waters. It is about maintaining control over what access is allowed.)
The
spokesman said that Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen would reach a “firm
decision” together by Sunday about whether talks on the trade deal should
continue. But he did not give details of how this would happen, and whether
they would meet again, or just talk on the phone.
The
spokesman said that Lord Frost and Michel Barnier, the UK and EU chief
negotiators, would resume talks in Brussels this afternoon.
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