Various countries, including India, suspended flights from and to the UK on Monday that measure to try and contain the spread of a new variant of coronavirus, the pressure is mounting on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to extend the Brexit transition period beyond the December 31 deadline to prevent further chaos on the borders.
The negotiation between the UK and European Union (EU), which were already down as another 48-hour deadline window expired over the weekend to thrash out differences over areas of divergences, were magnified by a rapid-spreading mutation of the deadly virus. Due to unclear situation, the backlog of lorries built up on the border between England and France and the EU held emergency talks for a collective response to the latest health crisis, Scotland First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, London Mayor Sadiq Khan and several MPs from Johnson's own Conservative Party pushed for the talks to be spilt over into the New Year.
“It's now imperative that the PM seeks an agreement to extend the Brexit transition period,” Sturgeon said. “The new Covid strain – and the various implications of it – means we face a profoundly serious situation, and it demands our 100 per cent attention. It would be unconscionable to compound it with Brexit,” she added. As of now, if there is no agreement by New Year's Eve, the UK will leave the current shared single market and Customs Union and have to trade with the EU on World Trade Organisation (WTO) terms meaning the imposition of tariffs and quotas in sectors of the economy so far open on both sides.
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