Theresa May's former advisor accuses government of 'shocking failure in Brexit talks
Theresa May’s former chief of staff has accused the government of a “pretty shocking failure” over the Brexit negotiations.
Lord Gavin Barwell, who was the former prime minister’s aide throughout her talks with Brussels, said the delay in securing an agreement was harming British and European business interests.
With time rapidly running out before the transition period concludes at the end of the month, negotiators Lord David Frost and Michel Barnier will meet in a last-ditch attempt to resolve the remaining issues.
Lord Barwell said he believes a deal on a post-Brexit trade agreement is "definitely still possible", although it will rely on whether or not both sides are "prepared to make the compromises necessary".
"Both sides are going to have to compromise if we're going to get a deal from this situation,” He told BBC Breakfast.
He added: "We are now 25 days from the end of the transition period and business, both in the UK and in Europe, have no idea on what terms they're going to be able to trade with their nearest market from January 1.
"That is a pretty shocking failure."
Read more: EU anger after Gavin Williamson brags UK a ‘better country than all of them’ amid vaccine row
Lord Barwell also criticised the government for its behaviour over the controversial Internal Market Bill, adding it ultimately made negotiations regarding the future role of the European Court of Justice "much more difficult than it would otherwise have been".
He continued: "I completely understand why the government is determined to avoid the jurisdiction of the European court, but on the other side, the way the government has behaved over the Internal Market Bill has clearly strengthened the view on the European side that they need to make sure there's a robust process there where they can retaliate if the UK doesn't stand by the commitments that it made.
Watch: Minister admits Brexit talks in ‘a difficult position’
"I think it was a real mistake of the government to go down that road."
On Saturday, Boris Johnson and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen held an hour-long phone call in which they agreed on a final push to get an agreement.
In a joint statement following their call, Mr Johnson and Ms von der Leyen acknowledged "significant differences" remained on the key issues of fishing rights, competition rules and the governance arrangements for any deal.
"Both sides underlined that no agreement is feasible if these issues are not resolved," they said.
"Whilst recognising the seriousness of these differences, we agreed that a further effort should be undertaken by our negotiating teams to assess whether they can be resolved.
"We are therefore instructing our chief negotiators to reconvene tomorrow in Brussels. We will speak again on Monday evening."
