"Boris Johnson spent the general election campaign saying there was “absolutely zero” chance that Britain and the EU would not agree a trade deal by his self-imposed deadline of December 2020, but on Tuesday something changed.
Rather than sticking to his script, the prime minister told BBC’s Breakfast programme that it was only “epically likely” that a deal would be in place, admitting one could not account for “a complete failure of common sense”.
It is a curious change of tone. Mr Johnson’s previous categoric assertion that a deal would be done in 11 months was intended to close down speculation about what he would do in the event of a “no trade deal” Brexit on January 1 2021.
Now he will have stoked business concerns that such an outcome, with Britain trading on World Trade Organization terms, is again a possibility. Tariffs, quotas, paperwork and queues at Dover won’t make it a very happy new year for business."
https://www.ft.com/content/1b4305de-36c3-11ea-a6d3-9a26f8c3cba4
Rather than sticking to his script, the prime minister told BBC’s Breakfast programme that it was only “epically likely” that a deal would be in place, admitting one could not account for “a complete failure of common sense”.
It is a curious change of tone. Mr Johnson’s previous categoric assertion that a deal would be done in 11 months was intended to close down speculation about what he would do in the event of a “no trade deal” Brexit on January 1 2021.
Now he will have stoked business concerns that such an outcome, with Britain trading on World Trade Organization terms, is again a possibility. Tariffs, quotas, paperwork and queues at Dover won’t make it a very happy new year for business."
https://www.ft.com/content/1b4305de-36c3-11ea-a6d3-9a26f8c3cba4
