Two-thirds of Britons want Brexit trade talks delay so Boris Johnson can focus on coronavirus, poll finds
- Boris Johnson has insisted Brexit transition will not be extended past December
- Mounting speculation the date will have to be moved amid coronavirus chaos
- Poll finds two-thirds of the public back an extension to focus on killer disease
- Coronavirus symptoms: what are they and should you see a doctor?
Two thirds of Britons want Boris Johnson to delay post-Brexit trade talks so he can focus on coronavirus, a poll suggests today.
The UK and EU have been trying to thrash out details of their future relationship, with the ‘standstill’ transition period due to end in December.
The PM has repeatedly insisted that the deadline will not be extended, and it has been enshrined in law as part of the Withdrawal Act.
However, both UK negotiator David Frost and counterpart MIchel Barnier have come down with symptoms of coronavirus – as has Mr Johnson himself.
UK envoy David Frost (left) and counterpart Michel Barnier (right) have both come down with symptoms of coronavirus
Whitehall sources told the Sunday Times there was ‘zero’ chance of a trade agreement being place in time, and ‘no-one’ was working on it any more amid the health crisis.
A Focaldata poll commissioned by campaign groups Best for Britain and Hope Not Hate found that 64 per cent of voters want Mr Johnson to ‘request an extension to the transition period in order to focus properly on the coronavirus’.
A majority of voters in every age group backed a delay, although support was lower among Tory voters at 44 per cent.
The latest round of talks was cancelled this month after efforts to find a way of video conferencing failed.
Downing Street source has insisted the claim an extension will be sought is ‘totally untrue’.
Mr Johnson – who has himself come down with coronavirus – has repeatedly insisted that the transition period will not be extended
But a Whitehall source told the Sunday Times: ‘There is no one in Whitehall working on Brexit.
‘The civil servants have either been sent home or have been redeployed to work on the coronavirus.
‘No one will say it explicitly, but there is zero expectation that we will leave on December 31.
‘The work on a variety of vital areas just hasn’t been done and I can’t see that changing for the foreseeable future.’