The UK government has formally ruled out any extension of the Brexit transition period beyond 31 December 2020, despite trade talks with the EU remaining stalled.

UK minister Michael Gove has confirmed this by stating, “I formally confirm that the UK will not extend the transition period & the moment for extension has now passed. On 1 January 2021 we will take back control and regain our political & economic independence. There will be no further opportunities for extension to the transition period”.

In response to this, Chief EU negotiator Michel Barnier has said, “The EU has always been open to an extension of the transition period. At today’s Joint Committee, we took note of UK’s decision not to extend. We must now make progress on substance. To give every chance to the negotiations, we agreed to intensify talks in the next weeks and months”.