Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

EU is ready to work 'until the last minute' for a good agreement, says Sefcovic

THE EU wants a Brexit trade deal with Britain and will work until the last minute to get a fair agreement, though not at any cost, European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic said on Monday(19).

"It has to be a fair agreement for both sides - we are not going to sign an agreement at any cost," Sefcovic told reporters after a meeting with Britain's Brexit supremo Michael Gove in London.


"The European Union is ready to work until the last minute for a good agreement for both parties," Sefcovic said.

EU and UK Brexit negotiators, Michel Barnier and David Frost, will discuss continuing trade talks over the phone around 1300 GMT on Monday, a spokesman for the former said.

Britain on Monday said that the door was still open if the EU wanted to make some small concessions to save Brexit trade talks, but that unless the bloc budged there would be a no-deal exit in 10 weeks.

The British pound extended gains and climbed above $1.30 on Monday as hopes grew that British and European negotiators might be able to salvage post-Brexit trade talks.

Against a broadly steady U.S. dollar, the pound strengthened 0.6 per cent higher at $1.3006. Against the euro , the pound gained 0.5 per cent to 90.33 pence.

Prime minister Boris Johnson said on Friday(16) there was no point in continuing talks and it was time to prepare for a no-deal departure when Britain's informal EU membership - known as the transition period - ends on Dec. 31.

But Michael Gove, his Brexit supremo who favours a deal, has said that an agreement could be reached if the bloc compromised.

"It would be sensible at this point for them to go that extra mile, to come closer to us on the points that remain for discussion," added British housing secretary Robert Jenrick.

"We hope that they could come forward now with some relatively small but important changes which respect us as an independent sovereign nation," he told Sky News.

Negotiations broke down on Thursday(15) when the EU demanded Britain give ground. Issues still to be resolved include fair competition rules, dispute resolution and fisheries.

More than 70 British business groups representing over 7 million workers on Sunday(18) urged politicians to get back to the negotiating table next week and strike a deal.

"With compromise and tenacity, a deal can be done. Businesses call on leaders on both sides to find a route through," they said.

More For You

Indian restaurant loses licence after Home Office catches illegal workers

Mumbai Local has been stripped of its licence by Harrow council. (Photo: LDRS/Google Maps)

Indian restaurant loses licence after Home Office catches illegal workers

AN INDIAN restaurant in north London has lost its licence after it was found to have repeatedly employed illegal workers.

Harrow council determined that the evidence suggested that using illegal workers was a “systemic approach” to running the premises and it had a “lack of trust” in the business to comply with the law.

Keep ReadingShow less
Trump sees Modi, Putin closer to Xi, but insists US-India ties intact

FILE PHOTO: US president Donald Trump meets with Indian prime minister Narendra Modi at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 13, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Trump sees Modi, Putin closer to Xi, but insists US-India ties intact

US PRESIDENT Donald Trump said India and Russia seem to have been "lost" to China after their leaders met with Chinese president Xi Jinping this week, expressing his annoyance at New Delhi and Moscow as Beijing pushes a new world order.

"Looks like we've lost India and Russia to deepest, darkest, China. May they have a long and prosperous future together!" Trump wrote in a social media post accompanying a photo of the three leaders together at Xi's summit in China.

Keep ReadingShow less
Farage pledges Reform UK election push as Tories, Labour falter

Nigel Farage gestures as he speaks during the party's national conference at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, Britain, September 5, 2025. REUTERS/Isabel Infantes

Farage pledges Reform UK election push as Tories, Labour falter

POPULIST leader Nigel Farage vowed to start preparing for government, saying the nation's two main parties were in meltdown and only his Reform UK could ease the anger and despair plaguing the country to "make Britain great again".

To a prolonged standing ovation by a crowd at the annual party conference on Friday (5), Farage for the first time offered a vision of how Britain would be under a Reform government: He pledged to end the arrival of illegal migrants in boats in two weeks, bring back "stop-and-search" policing and scrap net zero policies.

Keep ReadingShow less
Shabana Mahmood

Newly appointed home secretary Shabana Mahmood arrives at Number 10 at Downing Street as Keir Starmer holds a cabinet reshuffle on September 5, 2025. (Photo: Getty Images)

Shabana Mahmood named home secretary, Lammy deputy to Starmer in major reshuffle

Highlights:

  • David Lammy becomes deputy prime minister while keeping foreign affairs brief
  • Angela Rayner resigned after admitting underpaid property tax
  • Lisa Nandy to stay on as culture secretary
  • Reshuffle marks first major shake-up of Starmer’s government

SHABANA MAHMOOD has been appointed home secretary in a major reshuffle of prime minister Keir Starmer’s cabinet following the resignation of deputy prime minister Angela Rayner.

Keep ReadingShow less
Epping protests

The protests outside the Bell Hotel in Epping triggered a series of demonstrations across the country during heightened tensions over immigration. (Photo: Getty Images)

Asylum seeker convicted of sex assaults case that led to protests

AN ETHIOPIAN asylum seeker, whose arrest in July led to protests outside a hotel near London where he and other migrants were housed, has been found guilty of sexually assaulting a teenage girl and another woman.

The protests outside the Bell Hotel in Epping, about 20 miles (30 km) from London, triggered a series of demonstrations across the country during heightened tensions over immigration.

Keep ReadingShow less