LONDON (UK) – Britain started a fresh round of Brexit trade deal discussions by warning the EU that it was going ahead with preparations to leave the bloc without an agreement as both sides are squabbling over rules regulating $1 trillion in trade.
Diplomats are wondering whether Prime Minister Boris Johnson is serious about the tumultuous exit. On the other hand, the UK’s chief negotiator said that the country was not afraid of a no-deal exit.
“We have now been talking for six months and can no longer afford to go over well-trodden ground. We need to see more realism from the EU about our status as an independent country,” David Frost, the top negotiator of the Boris Johnson government, said.
“If they can’t do that in the very limited time we have left then we will be trading on terms like those the EU has with Australia, and we are ramping up our preparations for the end of the year.”