Pressure is mounting on the UK and EU negotiating teams to finalise a post-Brexit trade deal. Talks went on late into Wednesday evening at the business department in central London, according to agencies. The two sides are urgently seeking compromises in key areas before current trading rules expire at the end of December. Fishing rights, competition rules and how an agreement should be enforced remain outstanding issues. The two sides have been locked in talks since March to determine their future relations once the UKs Brexit transition periods ends on 31 December. Irelands foreign affairs minister said there was a good chance a deal between the two sides could be agreed in the coming days. Speaking to Irelands Newstalk Radio, Simon Coveney said the EU needed to hold our nerve and trust its chief negotiator Michel Barnier. I believe if we do that, theres a good chance that we can get a deal across the line in the next few days, he added. Coveney is due in Paris on Thursday for Brexit discussions with his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian. Boris Johnson has said the UK remains absolutely committed to getting a deal if we can. Speaking on Wednesday, the prime minister said the EU side know what the UK bottom line is, as talks continued in what is seen as a crucial week. Negotiators got back to work in London on Thursday morning - face-to-face talks have been ongoing since the weekend after a week-long pause. Discussions had to move entirely online after Mr Barnier was forced into self-isolation after one of his colleagues tested positive for Covid-19. Pizzas were delivered to a central London venue late on Wednesday evening, as the two teams continued to haggle over the details of a deal. On Thursday, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer told reporters: If the choice is a deal or no deal, then a deal is obviously in the national interest. He said he was consulting across the Labour Party on whether the party should back a deal if it comes to a vote in the Commons, and would decide after examining the contents of the deal. He denied Labour was split over the issue, after reports he was planning to ask his MPs to vote in favour but some shadow cabinet members want to abstain. Weve pulled together incredibly over the last few months through difficult decisions, and well do so on this decision again, he added. The government has not confirmed how it intends to ratify a deal in Parliament. But the UKs chief negotiator Lord David Frost has said he assumed MPs would have to approve a law to implement at least some elements of a deal.
