Door remains ‘ajar’ for post-Brexit trade deal: Gove

LONDON: Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove has insisted that the door is “ajar” for post-Brexit trade talks to continue with the EU after Downing Street declared negotiations as “over”.

Gove accused EU officials of not being serious about making compromises and said they would have to back down if chief negotiator Michel Barnier is to resume negotiations in London this week.

His warning on Sunday came after Prime Minister Boris Johnson accused European leaders of having “abandoned the idea of a free trade deal” and told the country to “get ready” for leaving without a trade deal. And Downing Street negotiator Lord Frost told his EU counterpart not to travel for planned talks, with the UK calling for a fundamental change in direction of the bloc’s approach.

But Gove left room for talks to get a trade deal in order to prevent the high trade tariffs the UK faces from December 31 when the transition period ends. Asked if the door is still open to talks, he said: “It is ajar; we hope the EU will change their position, we’re certainly not saying that if they do change their position we can’t talk to them.”

But, he added on the BBC’s The Andrew Marr Show, that “we are ready if required” to leave without a trade deal, which he admitted would not “be a picnic”.

He earlier told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday that the chances of getting a deal are “less” than the 66 per cent he had previously predicted. “It’s less. I can’t be precise, but one of the reasons why it’s less is the position that’s been taken in the last couple of weeks by European Union leaders,” he added.

He said the EU has refused to work on a detailed legal draft text during negotiations and of not being “willing to intensify the talks”, while making unacceptable demands on fishing waters.

“And so that seems to me to be the behaviour of an organisation and an institution that is not serious about making the compromises necessary to secure a deal,” Gove said. Asked if talks could resume with Barnier, he replied: “The ball is in his court. We’ve made clear that we need to see a change in approach from the European Union.

“I know that he’ll be calling David Frost over the course of the next few days; let’s see if the European Union appreciate the importance of reaching a deal and the importance of making ground.”

On Friday, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said there was “no point” in Barnier travelling to London unless the 27 EU member states were willing to alter their position or wanted to discuss sector by sector arrangements to prepare for no deal. “The trade talks are over. The EU have effectively ended them by saying that they do not want to change their negotiating position,” the spokesman said.