UK and EU 'agree to delay October Brexit deal deadline until mid-November'
As the October deadline approaches for the UK to secure a Brexit deal with the EU, it seems as though the two sides are looking at pushing it back.
According to Bloomberg, the terms of a divorce deal are to be finalised by the middle of November – a shift from the original mid-October deadline.
Negotiations between Britain and the EU have stalled over the issue of a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, making a no-deal scenario more likely if the deadline is pushed back even further.
However, the Prime Minister Theresa May’s spokesman said the Government was ‘working to the October deadline’.
He added: ‘Both sides have agreed to increase the pace of negotiations. That’s what we’re doing.’
The EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, refused to commit to October as the deadline following a meeting with Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab last week.
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News of a potential deadline delay come as a new poll shows Brits becoming increasingly frustrated with how the Tories are dealing with Brexit.
According to a YouGov poll, the percentage of Brits think that the Conservative Party is the ‘best party’ on Britain’s exit from the EU has dropped to 19% – the joint lowest on record.
In the same period in 2017, 28% of responders said the Tories were the best party on Brexit.
In recent weeks the % of Brits who think that the Conservative Party is the ‘best party’ on Britain’s exit from the EU has fallen to 19%
The lowest on record pic.twitter.com/Vt10eAnYOq
— Matthew Goodwin (@GoodwinMJ) August 28, 2018
The same poll also found that support for Ukip on Brexit has shot up in recent weeks.
This week, the Prime Minister outlined Britain’s first post-Brexit trade pact as she also committed the UK to providing an extra £4 billion of investment in African economies.
Mrs May said the Government intends to carry over the EU’s economic partnership agreement with Mozambique and the Southern African Customs Union (SACU), which consists of South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland.
