Sadiq Khan claims UK MUST ask EU for Brexit transition period extension

Sadiq Khan today accused the government of putting ‘dogma ahead of the national interest’ as he urged ministers to agree a Brexit transition period extension with the EU. 

Downing Street remains adamant it will not be asking to push back the deadline for trade talks, insisting a deal can be done despite ongoing coronavirus disruption. 

But Mr Khan, the Mayor of London, said it would be in both Britain’s and Brussels’ interests to extend transition beyond the end of the year. 

He said it ‘beggars belief’ the government is pursuing a strategy which could result in the two sides going their separate ways on December 31 without a comprehensive deal in place at a time when the spread of the deadly disease is wreaking havoc with the economy. 

David Frost, the UK’s chief Brexit negotiator, tweeted yesterday to reiterate that transition ‘ends on 31 December this year’ and ‘we will not ask to extend it’. 

He added that if the EU asked for an extension ‘we will say no’. 

The terms of the transition period were set out in the Brexit divorce deal which took Britain out of the bloc on January 31. 

The ‘standstill’ transition sees the UK continuing to abide by EU rules and was designed to give the two sides time to hammer out the terms of their future relationship.  

The transition deadline can only be delayed if a request to do so is made by June and if both sides agree. 

Mr Khan told LBC: ‘I think the government is putting dogma ahead of the national interest. 

‘No one anticipated when they voted for Brexit that the key negotiations would fall at a time when all governments are rightly focused on fighting a global pandemic. 

‘The last thing we need as we are trying to get a way back from the devastation that has been wreaked by coronavirus is more chaos and uncertainty. 

‘I would urge David Frost and I would urge the government to for goodness sake put political ideology aside and pursue the pragmatic route and that means getting an extension.’

Mr Khan said delaying the transition deadline would allow both the EU and UK to focus on rebuilding once the coronavirus outbreak subsides.  

The Labour heavyweight said: ‘The idea that when we are all trying to deal with Covid-19… the entire bandwidth of government is focused on this as it should be. 

‘All of us are focused on this as we should be. The idea you have got some slack in the system for civil servants to work on a deal with the EU is not realistic and neither has the EU by the way.’ 

Mr Frost said yesterday: ‘As we prepare for the next rounds of negotiations, I want to reiterate the Government’s position on the transition period created following our withdrawal from the EU. 

‘Transition ends on 31 December this year. We will not ask to extend it. If the EU asks we will say no.

‘Extending would simply prolong negotiations, create even more uncertainty, leave us liable to pay more to the EU in future, and keep us bound by evolving EU laws at a time when we need to control our own affairs. In short, it is not in the UK’s interest to extend.’ 

The Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman said the same thing, telling reporters yesterday: ‘We will not ask to extend the transition period, and if the EU asks we will say “no”.

‘Extending the transition would simply prolong the negotiations, prolong business uncertainty and delay the moment of control of our borders. 

‘It would also keep us bound by EU legislation at the point when we need legislative and economic flexibility to manage the UK response to the coronavirus pandemic.’