Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Stressing on 'free trade' Johnson says to prepare for no-trade deal Brexit in 10 weeks

BRITISH prime minister Boris Johnson said on Friday(16) it was now time to prepare for a no-trade deal Brexit in 10 weeks time unless the EU fundamentally changed course, though Brussels said talks would continue.

"I have concluded that we should get ready for January 1 with arrangements that are more like Australia's based on simple principles of global free trade," Johnson said.


"With high hearts and with complete confidence, we will prepare to embrace the alternative and we will prosper mightily as an independent free trading nation, controlling and setting our own laws," he added.

Johnson's remarks, which follow an EU demand that London make further concessions, may push Brexit towards disorder, though he still left open the possibility that the EU could change course and offer Britain a better deal.

"Unless there is a fundamental change of approach, we're going to go for the Australia solution. And we should do it with great confidence," he said.

A so-called "Australia deal" means that the UK would trade on World Trade Organization terms: as a country without an EU trade agreement, like Australia, tariffs would be imposed under WTO rules.

Asked if he was walking away from talks, Johnson said: "If there's a fundamental change of approach, of course we are always willing to listen, but it didn't seem particularly encouraging from the summit in Brussels."

The EU said it would continue to seek a Brexit trade accord and that its chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, would be in London next week to intensify the search for a deal.

"The EU continues to work for a deal, but not at any price," said EU president Ursula von der Leyen. "As planned, our negotiation team will go to London next week to intensify these negotiations."

French President Emmanuel Macron said the EU's 27 government leaders were united in their views about Brexit and had tasked Barneir to extend talks with Britain for two weeks.

Britain formally left the EU on Jan. 31, but the two sides have been haggling over a deal that would govern trade in everything from car parts to medicines when informal membership known as the transition period ends Dec. 31.

Johnson had repeatedly asserted that his preference is for a deal but that Britain could make a success of a no-deal scenario, which would throw $900 billion in annual bilateral trade into uncertainty and could snarl the border, turning the southeastern county of Kent into a vast truck park.

Comprehensive trade deal

Johnson said discussions showed the EU would not give Britain a comprehensive trade deal such as the one the bloc has with Canada. "It does seem curious that after 45 years of our membership they can offer Canada terms they won't offer us."

EU officials have said Britain, with the world's 6th largest economy and geographically next door to Europe, poses a much bigger competitive challenge than distant Canada and so cannot be offered a similar accord.

The EU's 27 members, whose combined $18.4 trillion economy dwarfs the United Kingdom's $3 trillion economy, says progress had been made over recent months though compromise is needed.

German chancellor Angela Merkel, Europe's most powerful leader, said it would be best if a deal was struck but that if not then the EU would have to plan for alternatives.

"We have seen light in the past days but also shadows," Merkel told a news conference after a meeting of EU leaders in Brussels.

More For You

F-35B jet

The UK has agreed to move the aircraft to the Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility at the airport.

Indian Air Force

F-35B jet still stranded in Kerala, UK sends engineers for repair

UK AVIATION engineers are arriving in Thiruvananthapuram to carry out repairs on an F-35B Lightning jet belonging to the Royal Navy, which has remained grounded after an emergency landing 12 days ago.

The jet is part of the HMS Prince of Wales Carrier Strike Group of the UK's Royal Navy. It made the emergency landing at Thiruvananthapuram airport on June 14. The aircraft, valued at over USD 110 million, is among the most advanced fighter jets in the world.

Keep ReadingShow less
Ahmedabad air crash
Relatives carry the coffin of a victim, who was killed in the Air India Flight 171 crash, during a funeral ceremony in Ahmedabad on June 15, 2025. (Photo: Getty Images)

Ahmedabad crash: Grief, denial and trauma haunt families

TWO weeks after the crash of Air India flight AI-171 in Ahmedabad, families of victims are grappling with grief and trauma. Psychiatrists are now working closely with many who continue to oscillate between denial and despair.

The crash occurred on June 12, when the London-bound flight hit the BJ Medical College complex shortly after takeoff, killing 241 people on board and 29 on the ground. Only one passenger survived.

Keep ReadingShow less
Starmer apologises for 'island of strangers' immigration speech

Prime minister Keir Starmer delivers a speech at The British Chambers of Commerce Global Annual Conference in London on June 26, 2025. (Photo by EDDIE MULHOLLAND/AFP via Getty Images)

Starmer apologises for 'island of strangers' immigration speech

PRIME MINISTER Sir Keir Starmer has admitted he was wrong to warn that Britain could become an "island of strangers" due to high immigration, saying he "deeply" regrets the controversial phrase.

Speaking to The Observer, Sir Keir said he would not have used those words if he had known they would be seen as echoing the language of Enoch Powell's notorious 1968 "rivers of blood" speech.

Keep ReadingShow less
Sir Sajid Javid leads commission 'tackling social divisions'

Sir Sajid Javid (Photo by Tom Nicholson-WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Sir Sajid Javid leads commission 'tackling social divisions'

A cross-party group has been formed to tackle the deep divisions that sparked last summer's riots across England. The new commission will be led by former Tory minister Sir Sajid Javid and ex-Labour MP Jon Cruddas.

The Independent Commission on Community and Cohesion has backing from both prime minister Sir Keir Starmer and Tory leader Kemi Badenoch. It brings together 19 experts from different political parties and walks of life.

Keep ReadingShow less
​Masum

Masum was seen on CCTV trying to steer the pram away and, when she refused to go with him, stabbed her multiple times before walking away and boarding a bus. (Photo: West Yorkshire Police)

West Yorkshire Police

Habibur Masum convicted of murdering estranged wife in front of baby

A MAN who stabbed his estranged wife to death in Bradford in front of their baby has been convicted of murder.

Habibur Masum, 26, attacked 27-year-old Kulsuma Akter in broad daylight on April 6, 2024, stabbing her more than 25 times while she pushed their seven-month-old son in a pram. The baby was not harmed.

Keep ReadingShow less