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Denmark says time is running out to avoid no-deal Brexit | Denmark says time is running out to avoid no-deal Brexit |
(35 minutes later) | |
Time is running out to strike a Brexit deal, according to the Danish finance minister, who has echoed warnings that there is a 50-50 chance of Britain crashing out of the European Union without an agreement in place. | Time is running out to strike a Brexit deal, according to the Danish finance minister, who has echoed warnings that there is a 50-50 chance of Britain crashing out of the European Union without an agreement in place. |
Kristian Jensen said the window of opportunity for striking a deal that was positive for both Britain and the EU was closing. | Kristian Jensen said the window of opportunity for striking a deal that was positive for both Britain and the EU was closing. |
Earlier, Latvia’s foreign minister, Edgars Rinkēvičs, claimed the chance of a no-deal Brexit was “50-50”. Rinkēvičs said it was a “very considerable risk” but stressed he remained optimistic an agreement with Britain could be reached. | Earlier, Latvia’s foreign minister, Edgars Rinkēvičs, claimed the chance of a no-deal Brexit was “50-50”. Rinkēvičs said it was a “very considerable risk” but stressed he remained optimistic an agreement with Britain could be reached. |
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Jensen was asked about Rinkēvičs’s remarks. He said: “I also believe that 50-50 is a very good assessment because time is running out and we need to move really fast if we’ve got to strike a deal that is positive both for the UK and EU.” | Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Jensen was asked about Rinkēvičs’s remarks. He said: “I also believe that 50-50 is a very good assessment because time is running out and we need to move really fast if we’ve got to strike a deal that is positive both for the UK and EU.” |
He said that everyone who wanted there to be a good deal “needs to put in some effort in the months to come, otherwise I’m afraid that time will run out”. He went on to describe Theresa May’s Chequers plan – which includes a pledge that the UK would apply domestic tariffs on goods intended for the UK, but charge EU tariffs on goods heading into the EU – as a “realistic proposal for good negotiations”. | |
“We need to go into a lot of details but I think it’s a very positive step forward and a necessary step,” he said. | “We need to go into a lot of details but I think it’s a very positive step forward and a necessary step,” he said. |
The discussion comes after the foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, warned that a no-deal Brexit would be “a mistake that we would regret for generations”. Eurosceptics in his party accused him of weakening May’s hand by making such comments. | |
Ministers have spent weeks emphasising that May is “not kidding” when she says she will walk away rather than accept a bad deal, but Hunt sent the opposite message, suggesting that Britain would make concessions. | Ministers have spent weeks emphasising that May is “not kidding” when she says she will walk away rather than accept a bad deal, but Hunt sent the opposite message, suggesting that Britain would make concessions. |
Jensen refused to say whether Hunt would be easier to work with than his predecessor, Boris Johnson, but said: “I do believe that we had a good cooperation with Boris and I’m sure that we will have good cooperation with Jeremy.” | |
In an interview with ITV News, Hunt said the UK would find a way to “prosper and thrive” but a no-deal Brexit would be a “geo-strategic mistake”. | |
He said: “We want a deal with the EU that means we really can have a deep and special partnership, a friendship, going forward, not just in terms of our economic relations but in terms of everything else that happens on the world stage, and it would be a mistake that we would regret for generations if we were to have a messy, ugly divorce and that is what we all want to avoid.” | |
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