Britain and the European Union warned Tuesday that talks on a post-Brexit free-trade deal are teetering on the brink of collapse, with just over three weeks until an economic rupture that will cause upheaval for businesses on both sides of the English Channel.
Officials downplayed the chances of a breakthrough when Prime Minister Boris Johnson heads to Brussels for face-to-face talks with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in the next few days.
With negotiators deadlocked on key issues after months of tense talks, Johnson said the situation at the moment is very tricky.
“Our friends have just got to understand the UK has left the EU in order to be able to exercise democratic control over the way we do things,” Johnson said during a visit to a hospital where some of the world’s first COVID-19
vaccinations were being administered. “There is also the issue of fisheries where we are a long way apart still.
But hope springs eternal. I will do my best to sort it out if we…
