Michael Gove 'formally' tells EU transition ends in December despite Scots and Welsh delay demands - Money

The EU has been ‘formally’ told that the UK will complete its final split from the bloc on time in December, Michael Gove said today as he proclaimed: ‘The moment for extension has now passed’.

The Cabinet Office Minister made the announcement as Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and her Welsh counterpart Mark Drakeford demanded that the post-Brexit transition period be extended into 2021.

In a joint letter to Boris Johnson they said ‘fundamental issues’ still remain between the UK and EU negotiators after the most recent round of talks on a deal and to leave in December would be ”extraordinarily reckless’.

The Scottish Government has repeatedly called for the transition period to be extended beyond the December 31 deadline, but that can only be done if a request is made before the end of this month.

But in a post on Twitter, Mr Gove said he had chaired a ‘constructive’ meeting of the EU Joint Committee with EU Commission Vice-President for Inter-institutional Relations Maros Sefcovic.

He said: ‘I formally confirmed the UK will not extend the transition period and the moment for extension has now passed.

‘On January 1, 2021, we will take back control and regain our political & economic independence.’

Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon (left) and her Welsh counterpart Mark Drakeford (right) demanded that the post-Brexit transition period be extended into 2021

In a joint letter to Boris Johnson they said ‘fundamental issues’ still remain between the UK and EU negotiators after the most recent round of talks on a deal.

Government U-turn on EU border checks because of pandemic

Michael Gove has backtracked on plans to introduce full border checks with the EU when the Brexit transition period ends, and defied warnings that it would be ‘extraordinarily reckless’ not to request an extension.

The Cabinet Office minister formally told the EU on Friday that the UK would not ask for a delay despite concerns the departure would compound the economic chaos inflicted by the coronavirus pandemic.

However, in scrapping plans to immediately introduce full import controls on EU goods in the new year, Mr Gove said Britain would now phase in changes over six months so businesses hampered by Covid-19 can have the ‘time to adjust’.

The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster said ‘the moment for extension has now passed’ despite a stark warning from the first ministers of Scotland and Wales that the move would lead to ‘avoidable’ business closures and redundancies.

The move came as the UK economy contracted by more than a fifth in the first full month of lockdown, as shops and factories closed and workers were sent home to slow the virus’s spread.

The Office for National Statistics said that economic activity was down by 20.4% in April, the largest drop in a single month since records began in 1997, and worse than many experts were forecasting.

UK sources said that unless both sides agree to another such meeting before the end of July, today’s meeting was the last opportunity to request an extension to the transition period.

Mr Sefcovic said Mr Gove’s position on not extending the transition period was a definitive one.

He said: ‘(Mr) Gove was very clear, unequivocal on the fact that the UK is not going to seek the extension and because this was the last Joint Committee before the deadlines expire – so we take this decision as a definitive one.

‘And therefore we are pleading for acceleration of work on all fronts so we can really arrive at January 1 with all the things that have to be done to be executed and done properly.

‘And it would be ready as of January 1 to leave what I believe would be a very close, prosperous and cordial relationship between the EU and the UK.’

He added that Friday’s meeting of the EU-UK Joint Committee was ‘positive’ but that there is still more to do to get a comprehensive trade deal in place by the end of the year.

Speaking at the European Commission press briefing, Mr Sefcovic said: ‘I have to underline that the meeting took place in very good atmosphere and I am glad that at the end of our discussions we also arrived at some positive results, which I believe would pave the way forward for the proper implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement.’

He added: ‘However, with some six months to go before the end of the transition period we still have lots of work to do.’

Liberal Democrat Brexit spokesman Alistair Carmichael said: ‘There seems to be no end to this Government’s recklessness.

‘By risking the UK crashing out with no deal, the Prime Minister is also risking shortages in food and medicine, as well as another severe economic hit.

‘Any responsible Prime Minister would put people’s lives, let alone their livelihoods, ahead of ideology. However, Boris Johnson’s pigheaded refusal to extend the transition period will see the most vulnerable in our country suffer the most.’

Ms Sturgeon and Mr Drakeford warned in their letter that exiting the transition period at the end of this year, when the UK economy will just be beginning its recovery from coronavirus, would be ‘extraordinarily reckless’.

They wrote: ‘No-one could reproach the UK Government for changing its position in the light of the wholly unforeseeable Covid-19 crisis, particularly as the EU has made it clear it is open to an extension request.

‘We therefore call on you to take the final opportunity the next few weeks provide to ask for an extension to the transition period in order to provide a breathing space to complete the negotiations, to implement the outcome, and the opportunity for our businesses to find their feet after the enormous disruption of recent months.

‘At the time the Withdrawal Agreement was signed, no-one could have imagined the enormous economic dislocation which the Covid 19 pandemic has caused – in Wales, Scotland, the whole of the UK, in the EU and across the world.’

The letter claimed that, at best, there would only be a ‘bare bones’ trade deal in place by December, or a move to a no-deal exit from the EU.