Boris to head to Brussels to end Brexit deadlock

London, December 8

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will fly to Brussels this week for crunch talks to try and break the deadlock with the EU over a post-Brexit trade agreement ahead of the December 31 deadline.

The clock is ticking for the end of the Brexit transition period and unless the UK and EU are able to thrash out and ratify a deal by the end of this month, Britain will have left the 27-member economic bloc on January 1, 2021, with the prospect of tariffs on goods as both sides trade on World Trade Organisation terms. “I’m always hopeful, but I’ve got to be honest, the situation at the moment is very tricky,” Johnson told the BBC. “We will see where we get to in the course of the next two days, but I think the UK government’s position is that we are willing to engage at any level,” he said. — PTI