Brexit LIVE: They’re FINALLY caving! EU ‘set to give in’ as standoff goes to the wire

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With a week to go until the deadline to reach an agreement, Michel Barnier said during virtual talks yesterday negotiators were running out of time, stressing “fundamental divergences still remain.” Both sides have indicated that to reach an agreement on key issues,  including fisheries, governance and the level playing field, the negotiators need to meet in person.

Express.co.uk understands the EU is expected to shift slightly and argee to Boris Johnson’s demands, which are seen by several EU coastal states as disadvantaging their fishermen.

A Whitehall source said the EU could “give in” this week as Michel Barnier is expected to attend London for face to face discussions with Lord Frost when he comes out of self-isolation. 

The source close to the negotiations added: “After months of resistance and try to get there own way for fisheries, there seems to be a shift of tone from the EU.

“This is a key part of the talks, we are an independent coastal state and will be so going forward.”

Cabinet Office permanent secretary Alex Chisholm told the Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said there is still “undoubtedly” time for a deal to be agreed, adding some of the “apparently hard and fast time constraints” have not been so strict after all.

The UK leaves the EU’s single market and customs union at the end of the year, and without an agreement there could be tariffs and quotas imposed on trade with the bloc.

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8am update: No-deal Brexit would harm UK economy says Bank of England boss

The long-term harm to the economy will likely be greater from a no-deal Brexit than from the Covid-19 crisis, the country’s top banker has said.

Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey said the effects of crashing out of the EU on World Trade Organisation (WTO) terms would last for longer than those of the global pandemic.

Mr Bailey told MPs on the Treasury Select Committee: “I think the long-term effect would be larger than the long-term effect of COVID.”

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