Extending Brexit talks would be ‘crazy’, UK minister says

Boris Johnson’s government reiterated its opposition to extending trade talks with the European Union beyond the end of 2020, even as the deadlock in the negotiations increases the threat of a disruptive split.

“It would be crazy to extend it,” Cabinet Office minister Penny Mordaunt said in the House of Commons on Tuesday, repeatedly saying the government won’t delay Britain’s final break with the EU. “We want to conclude the negotiations to give people time to prepare for the end of the year.”

The U.K. and EU are due to hold a high-level summit about the talks later this month, where Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will discuss progress. The two sides are trying to thrash out a free-trade accord to replace Britain’s decades-long membership of the bloc, but talks have stalled over issues including fishing rights and the extent to which the U.K. will be bound by future rulings of EU courts.

A succession of opposition lawmakers argued that the government should extend the Brexit transition period—the standstill arrangement that finishes at the end of 2020—to allow companies to recover from the coronavirus pandemic before facing a costly change in relations with EU.

But Mordaunt said it was important to give businesses certainty about the future and avoid further delays.

“We need to ensure our economies recover swiftly, and they will be helped by that in not perpetuating the uncertainty we have seen over the past few years,” she said. “It is vital that we get a move on.”