BORIS Johnson has said the UK is willing to continue trade talks with the EU but must also get ready for a No-Deal Brexit.
Speaking in Downing Street, Boris Johnson said there is a trade “deal to be done” but warned that the UK and EU “remain very far apart” on the key issues.
He said: “We are always happy to talk and to make progress where we can. I do think, as I say, there is a deal to be done if our partners want to do it. But we remain very far apart on these key issues.
“And you know what they are – the UK can’t be locked into the EU’s regulatory orbit and we’ve obviously got to take back control of our fisheries four-and-a-half years after people voted for it.
“So those are the points. I think that it is very clear what the UK is talking about, let’s see what we can achieve.
“But in the meantime, get ready, with confidence, for January 1 – trade on WTO terms if we have to.”
READ MORE: Boris Johnson enters final day of post-Brexit trade talks as No-Deal looms
Shadow business secretary Ed Miliband warned that leaving the EU without a free trade agreement would be “a disastrous outcome” and accused the Prime Minister of being “cavalier” with the country’s national interests.
Labour’s communities secretary Steve Reed said the British people “cannot tolerate” a no-deal outcome and urged Mr Johnson to “get Brexit done” as Sunday’s trade talks deadline loomed.
Miliband confirmed that his party would be “minded to support” any potential trade agreement negotiated between the UK and the EU, although they would want to “look at the detail” before doing so.
Speaking on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, Miliband said: “I say no-deal is a disastrous outcome for the country, it is not a wonderful outcome and it is a disgrace, frankly, that Boris Johnson said it.”
Asked if Labour would vote for a deal if it were achieved, the shadow business secretary said his party will “look at the detail”.
Pushed further, he added: “We’ve said we’re minded to support it.”
Miliband continued: “[Johnson] has been cavalier. This is a man who is cavalier with our national interest and, frankly, Andrew, he is playing Russian roulette with the jobs and livelihoods of people up and down the country.
“How dare he say it’ll be a wonderful outcome when we know the impact (of a no-deal) on our farmers?”
He added: “I think it is ideological, Andrew, this; I think people have to understand this. This is about the vision of the country we have in the future.
“Do we want a country with high standards on the environment, high standards on workers’ rights, or do we want a country where we race to the bottom, where we try and deregulate our way to economic success?
“It is about the vision of Britain, this, it is in the end about what vision you have of the country and I say we don’t deregulate our way to economic success.”
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