Boris Johnson warned today that attempts to seal a post-Brexit trade deal with the EU were proving “very tricky” as he prepared for an eleventh-hour summit with Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president.
Amid warnings from British officials that a no-deal Brexit is in the balance, the prime minister said he hoped the “power of sweet reason” would bring both sides together but Brussels had to accept there was only so far he was prepared to move.
Boris Johnson on the chances of Brexit deal
“Our friends have just got to understand the UK has left the EU in order to be able to exercise democratic control over the way we do things,” he said. “But hope springs eternal, I will do my best to sort it out if we can.”