DESPITE campaigning on the slogan that a deal was “oven ready”, Tory ministers expect the UK to crash out of European Union without a deal.
The Telegraph reports that Downing Street has ditched any pretense that an agreement is likely.
The Government had said it was targeting a tariff and quota free trade deal, but expects to leave on World Trade Organisation terms on December 31, guaranteeing complicated trade requirements which are forecast to cause huge delays.
The latest round of Brexit talks began in London this week but are expected to end today in deadlock, with both sides still in disagreement over fishing rights, the European Court of Justice, governance of the deal and level playing field guarantees.
Boris Johnson has set a deadline at the end of this month to reach an agreement, but no further face-to-face talks are scheduled.
Senior sources told the Telegraph that Tory ministers assume “there won’t be a deal”.
One commented: “The Government has been making clear for a while that it is prepared for No Deal. Britain isn’t going to budge on fundamentals like fishing rights, so it’s all in the hand of the EU.”
READ MORE: Majority of Scots regret Brexit and would rejoin EU
Officials in Brussels have said they are prepared for any outcome of the negotiations.
But a diplomat from an influential member state said that even if the UK’s proposals were accepted, it would represent little change from a No-Deal withdrawal.
“They are right to work on the basis of no deal [as] we are as well,” they said, adding that the “bare bones” trade agreement proposed by the Tories made “no material difference” between a deal or no deal.
Responding to the report that the UK Government was expecting to crash out on December 31, SNP MP John Nicholson tweeted: “Easiest trade deal of all time if you remember. #BrexitShambles”
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