By Hague...
"It has been a widespread assumption in recent months that there is bound to be agreement on free trade between the UK and the European Union before the transition period ends and Brexit takes full effect one month from now. The great majority of MPs believe that will happen, as do the financial markets that have remained unperturbed by the stops and starts of the negotiations. Hopefully, even as you read these words, Lord Frost and Michel Barnier are reaching a breakthrough, smiling through their face masks and doing a celebratory elbow bump to confirm the belief that they will come to an agreed conclusion.
Yet it seems more likely that such a happy outcome will require something additional, in the form of talks at the highest level between Boris Johnson and EU leaders, and that some fresh decisions will be required to make a deal attainable. Otherwise, it is still possible that January 1 will come round with no framework for cooperation and trade in place at all."
A no-deal Brexit is far more likely than anyone is prepared to admit
"It has been a widespread assumption in recent months that there is bound to be agreement on free trade between the UK and the European Union before the transition period ends and Brexit takes full effect one month from now. The great majority of MPs believe that will happen, as do the financial markets that have remained unperturbed by the stops and starts of the negotiations. Hopefully, even as you read these words, Lord Frost and Michel Barnier are reaching a breakthrough, smiling through their face masks and doing a celebratory elbow bump to confirm the belief that they will come to an agreed conclusion.
Yet it seems more likely that such a happy outcome will require something additional, in the form of talks at the highest level between Boris Johnson and EU leaders, and that some fresh decisions will be required to make a deal attainable. Otherwise, it is still possible that January 1 will come round with no framework for cooperation and trade in place at all."
A no-deal Brexit is far more likely than anyone is prepared to admit
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