Brexit news – latest: MPs may not get vote on agreement as senior Tory says Boris Johnson must go if no deal

Clément Beaune, France’s Europe minister, has said “it will be difficult” for Brexit talks “to go beyond the end of the week”.

Mr Beaune said: “Not just because of ratification, but because we need two weeks to organise. Companies are getting anxious. We cannot get to 5pm on 31 December without companies knowing what will happen the next day.”

He added that no country outside the single market has “a zero-tariff, zero trade agreement with the EU. This is a very generous offer, so we are entitled to ask for commitments in return.”

The European Union is “fully dedicated” to clinching a post-Brexit trade deal before the UK’s transition out of the bloc ends on 31 December, the European Commission said on Monday.

“We’re of course aware that time is short. The more time that goes by the less likely it is that we will have a deal in place on the first of January, that’s just a statement of fact,” Commission spokesman Daniel Ferrie told a news briefing.

“I cannot say what may or may not happen over these days. But what I can say, though, is that we are fully dedicated to trying to reach a deal with the UK.”

It comes as No 10 downgraded its prediction of a no-deal outcome from “most likely” to “possible” on Monday, and after Brussels’ chief negotiator Michel Barnier said earlier today that a deal was “still possible”. 

At a press conference on Monday, Boris Johnson’s spokesman repeatedly refused to confirm whether MPs would be given a vote on any post-Brexit trade deal that is agreed with the European Union.

The spokesman said it was for Commons Leader Jacob Rees-Mogg to set out the business of the House and refused to commit to the principle of MPs having a vote.

“I’m obviously not going to pre-empt the business of the House which obviously gets set out in the usual way. We are confident that there is time to do whatever we need to do in Parliament,” he told reporters.

After repeatedly refusing to confirm whether MPs will get a say, the spokesman was asked whether Downing Street was not guaranteeing a vote.

“I didn’t say that, I just made the clear point that it’s for the Leader of the House to set out the business of the House in the usual way.”

One of the other big developments of the morning: the government has confirmed that it has begun talks with French energy giant EDF to build a new £20bn nuclear power plant in Suffolk.

Some experts have expressed scepticism that the government will be able to keep costs of any stake it takes in the new Sizewell C plant under control.

“While it is likely that some new nuclear will be needed to reach net zero, putting billpayers on the hook for delays and cost overruns is a very risky move,” said Dr Jonathan Marshall head of analysis at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU).

Could Brexit trade deal negotiations go beyond the 2020? Asked about the possibility, Boris Johnson’s official spokesman said: “We have been clear on many occasions that we want the outcome to be reached, whether that’s a free trade agreement or leaving on WTO terms, by the end of the year.”

The No 10 spokesman said a no-deal Brexit was “possible”, adding: “No-deal is a potential outcome but we are still committed to trying to reach an FTA.”

The spokesman declined to say whether legislation or a vote of the Commons would be required to ratify any deal. Asked repeatedly what say MPs would have on the outcome of talks and what timetable might be for any vote, the spokesman said only: “We are confident that there is time to do whatever we need to do in parliament.”

While the EU and UK are thought to have made preparations to apply a trade deal on a “provisional” basis – but it is understood that this process might still not be fast enough to avoid a no-deal if talks go up to Christmas and beyond.

The Economist’s Paris bureau chief Sophie Pedder is hearing “cautiously encouraging” things from French officials on Monday. “There’s now ‘some hope’ of reaching a deal,” one told her.

It comes as respected Brexit analyst Mujtaba Rahman says level-playing issues are now “more likely to come together” after movement from the EU on remedial measures and arbitration, should the UK diverge from EU standards in future.

EU and British negotiators are on the “very last mile” in negotiations for a trade accord and the architecture in place is “fine” but details remain, the EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said on Monday.

“We are on the very last mile,” she told an OECD event via video link.

“We want a level playing field, not only at the start but also over time … this is the architecture that we are building,” she said. “We’re fine about the architecture itself but the details, do they really fit?”

A no-deal Brexit could still hit on 1 January even if a trade agreement is signed before the New Year, Michel Barnier has told MEPs.

The EU’s chief negotiator said in a private meeting in Monday morning that there could be a short period of no-deal while the accord was applied, according to an EU official present. Mr Barnier also reportedly told ambassadors from EU member states the same thing.

While the EU and UK have both made preparations to apply a trade deal on a “provisional” basis, it’s understood that this process might still not be fast enough to avoid a no-deal if talks go up to Christmas and beyond.

An EU diplomat, who was present at Michel Barnier’s private meeting with EU member ambassadors on Monday, has told reporters that “some limited progress” has been made in Brexit trade talks.

Reuters reports:

Britain and the EU made some limited progress in their trade talks, the bloc’s Brexit negotiator said on Monday, but remain at odds over state aid provisions and have moved further apart again on fisheries, according to a senior Brussels diplomat.

The diplomat spoke under condition of anonymity after the negotiator, Michel Barnier, updated the 27 national envoys to the EU hub Brussels on Monday morning.

The diplomat said there had been “some limited progress” on the enforcement mechanism but there had been disagreement over state aid and “backtracking” on fisheries.