Downing Street has left open the prospect of MPs sitting between Christmas and the New Year to allow Parliament to ratify a last-minute Brexit deal.
As the UK confirmed the current impasse in talks over a trade deal with Brussels, the prime minister’s spokesperson made clear that both the House of Commons and House of Lords could process the necessary legislation before the final legal deadline of December 31.
Ahead of face-to-face talks between Boris Johnson and EU commission president Ursula von der Leyen, No.10 didn’t rule out rushing any eventual agreement through parliament within 24 hours.
Some expect the Commons to rise for its festive break next Tuesday, but it could be asked to sit later if a deal isn’t finally nailed down before this week’s EU summit.
Asked directly if there were contingency plans for MPs to sit between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, the PM’s spokesperson said: “We believe that should we reach a free trade agreement there is parliamentary time to put it through the House.
“I think we have seen previously parliament’s ability to pass things at a good speed where necessary and we continue to believe that there is time to do so.”
He stressed that “time is obviously in short supply” but that the government wanted to reach a deal “as soon as possible”.
The two sides are still far apart over fishing rights, competitive divergence on EU rules and on how to police any future breaches of the trade deal.
The spokesperson did however reject suggestions from the European Commission on Tuesday morning that the Brexit trade talks could possibly be extended into January if there is still no agreement.
“We have been clear that the future relationship needs to be concluded by the end of the year and negotiations won’t continue into next year,” he said.
Asked about the possibility of MPs sitting at Christmas, foreign office minister James Cleverly said on Monday: “It’s reasonable to expect parliament to work hard to get that through.”
Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg has only ruled out the Commons sitting on Christmas Day itself, leaving open the possibility of sittings on other days.
Johnson and the EU commission chief will meet “in coming days” as the clock ticks down to the December 31 expiry of the UK’s transition period under post-Brexit rules.
Fears of a no-deal outcome were heightened when the PM told the cabinet the UK would “thrive with or without” a deal on trade and security.
Yet, in a further sign of an olive branch to Brussels, the government is not yet publishing its new taxation bill, which was expected to include controversial clauses to override international law.
Meanwhile, No.10 said the UK’s chief Brexit negotiator Lord Frost will return to London later on Tuesday to discuss the remaining differences in reaching a free trade deal.
“It is the case that our chief negotiator David Frost is in Brussels working with his counterparts on the remaining differences currently. He will then travel back to London later today to discuss them with the prime minister,” the spokesperson said.
The EU’s own chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said the bloc will “never sacrifice our future for the present” amid a deadlock in trade deal talks.
He wrote on Twitter: “Briefed all member states at the #GAC today. Full unity. We will never sacrifice our future for the present. Access to our market comes with conditions.”