U.K. and EU Trade Blame Over Talks as No-Deal Brexit Risk Grows

(Bloomberg) --

Michael Gove, the minister in charge of planning for a no-deal Brexit, blamed the European Union for failing to engage on a new agreement, deepening the diplomatic standoff between the two sides less than three months before the U.K. is due to leave the bloc.

“We will put all our energy into making sure that we can secure that good deal, but at the moment it is the EU that seems to be saying they are not interested,” Gove told the BBC on Tuesday. “They are simply saying ‘No, we don't want to talk.' I think that is wrong and sad. It is not in Europe's interests.”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has made clear he won't sign up to a Brexit deal that includes the Irish border backstop, the fallback provision negotiated between Brussels and his predecessor, Theresa May, to ensure the U.K.'s land frontier with the EU remains open. The compromise is a red line for the bloc, a point underlined again on Tuesday by Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar.

“Our position is that the withdrawal agreement including the backstop is closed,” Varadkar told reporters during a visit to Northern Ireland. “But there is always room for talks and negotiations,” he said, adding that he is open to talks with Johnson at any time “without preconditions.”

Johnson has committed to quitting the bloc with or without an agreement on Oct. 31 amid warnings from economists and business groups of economic damage and disruption if the U.K. leaves without a deal.

Growing Risk

“The prospect of a no-deal Brexit is growing,” Irish Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe told reporters in London following a meeting with Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid.

But there's no sign either side is prepared to back down on the key backstop dispute. European Commission spokeswoman Annika Breidthardt told reporters in Brussels on Tuesday that, while the EU is open to talks, the bloc's own stance “remains unchanged.”

“The deal we have achieved is the best possible deal, and we are always willing to add language to the political declaration, but we will not reopen the withdrawal agreement,” Breidthardt said. “The commission does remain available over the coming weeks should the United Kingdom wish to hold talks and clarify its position in more detail, whether by phone or in person.”

Speaking later at a joint press conference with his Canadian counterpart in Toronto, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the U.K.'s preference is for a deal but the government is preparing to leave without one.

“Brexit is not just about risk management,” Raab said. “It's also, and I think our prime minister has been very clear about that, about grasping the enormous opportunities of our new-found freedoms.”

--With assistance from Thomas Penny and Peter Flanagan.

To contact the reporter on this story: Stuart Biggs in London at sbiggs3@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tim Ross at tross54@bloomberg.net, Thomas Penny, Alex Morales

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