A Brexit trade deal is still "a significant possibility" with EU and UK negotiators "90% of the way there" - but it won't "come at any price", a cabinet minister has told Sky News.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson briefed his top ministers on Thursday and ordered them to "get on and make those preparations" for a no-deal outcome from deadlocked trade negotiations.
Both sides have set Sunday as a deadline for deciding whether an EU-UK trade deal will be possible, with less than three weeks now left until the end of the Brexit transition period.
But while Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden did echo Mr Johnson's view that a no-deal outcome might be likely, he also stressed that a trade agreement could yet be struck in the next couple of days.
He told Sky News the UK was "not necessarily" heading towards a no-deal scenario, despite two major areas of disagreement in the talks.
"I think there is a significant possibility we could get that deal and I think we should continue to work towards it," Mr Dowden said.
"We're pretty much 90% of the way there, but there are these two areas which are outstanding and which no reasonable prime minister could accept.
"Namely, we do need to control our own sovereign waters and particularly our fishing policy.
"And, as we leave the EU, we should be free to set our own rules and regulations and not face penalties if the EU changes their regulations and we don't match them.
"I think it's perfectly reasonable to push back on those things."
Mr Dowden stressed a trade deal "can't come at any price" and "can't be achieved by compromising those two very important issues".
He admitted that the absence of a post-Brexit trade deal on 1 January would make it "choppy" for the UK, but he said businesses would face changes next year "come what may" and whatever the outcome of trade negotiations.
Mr Dowden also insisted the UK could "survive and indeed thrive" over the long-term if forced to trade with the EU on World Trade Organisation terms, which would likely mean the imposition of tariffs on trade in both directions.
"Australia is perfectly capable of trading with the EU on that basis," Mr Dowden said, as he joined a number of fellow ministers in framing a no-deal outcome as an "Australian-style" relationship with the EU.
Ahead of Sunday, when Mr Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen have both vowed to take a decision on the trade negotiations, the culture secretary added: "I think we are rapidly approaching the point where we've got to draw this to an end."
Meanwhile, Australia's former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull - whose country does not have a comprehensive trade deal with the EU - has warned the UK to "be careful what you wish for".
"Australia's relationship with the EU is not one from a trade point of view that I think Britain would want, frankly," he told the BBC.
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she believed the chances of a UK-EU trade deal are now "almost vanishingly small".
"I'm starting to worry not just that no-deal is now the overwhelming likelihood, but that Boris Johnson is actually now almost planning for that," she told CNN.
And Labour's shadow foreign secretary, Lisa Nandy, accused the government of having "just lost the plot" over Brexit trade negotiations.
The prime minister has warned the EU - under the terms of a trade deal - wants the "automatic right" to punish the UK in the future, perhaps with tariffs, if it does not comply with new EU laws.
"The government's position is now that it's intolerable to accept tariffs and quotas, so they want to leave on terms that immediately introduce tariffs and quotas," Ms Nandy said.
"It just seems absolutely absurd."
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiiQFodHRwczovL25ld3Muc2t5LmNvbS9zdG9yeS9icmV4aXQtZXUtdWstdHJhZGUtZGVhbC1zdGlsbC1hLXNpZ25pZmljYW50LXBvc3NpYmlsaXR5LWJ1dC13b250LWNvbWUtYXQtYW55LXByaWNlLXNheXMtb2xpdmVyLWRvd2Rlbi0xMjE1NzY5NtIBjQFodHRwczovL25ld3Muc2t5LmNvbS9zdG9yeS9hbXAvYnJleGl0LWV1LXVrLXRyYWRlLWRlYWwtc3RpbGwtYS1zaWduaWZpY2FudC1wb3NzaWJpbGl0eS1idXQtd29udC1jb21lLWF0LWFueS1wcmljZS1zYXlzLW9saXZlci1kb3dkZW4tMTIxNTc2OTY?oc=5
2020-12-11 08:04:26Z
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