UK PM Boris Johnson: UK can “more than live with” a no-deal Brexit

The British Prime Minister Boris Johnson claims the UK can “more than live with” a no-deal Brexit.

In an interview with Speaking to the BBC’s Andrew Marr, Johnson said he didn’t “want the Australian, WTO-type outcome particularly, but we can more than live with it”.

However, Brussels has not shut down trade talks as neither side want to fall back on WTO trade terms next year.

Instead, the EU has signalled it is pursuing legal action against London in retaliation over the controversial Internal Markets Bill (IMB).

However, this will take time and doesn’t preclude a deal being done in the meantime.

Indeed, statement published by the European Commission on Saturday said that commission president Ursula von der Leyen and Johnson had agreed on the importance of coming to an agreement during a video conference.

In the joint statement, they said that “progress had been made in recent weeks but that significant gaps remained”.

On the possibility of a deal, Johnson told Marr “I think it’s there to be done. Alas, there are some difficult issues that need to be fixed.”

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