British Brexit secretary David Davis (L) and European Union (EU) chief negotiator Michel Barnier attend a joint press briefing in Brussels, Belgium, Aug. 31, 2017. No decisive progress has been reached in the third round of Brexit talks, EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier said here Thursday, warning that the talk mandate given by the European Parliament should not be underestimated. (Xinhua/Ye Pingfan)
LONDON, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Britain faces an increased risk of leaving the European Union (EU) in 2019 with no deal, the Labour Party's Brexit spokesman Keir Starmer warned Thursday.
Starmer, Labour's Shadow Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, made his comment after talks in Brussels between the British government and the EU concluded with little progress made after days of negotiations.
Starmer said: "After three rounds of negotiations, real progress should have been made and, in principle, agreements reached on all phase one issues. Instead, the two sides appear to be getting further apart."
"The risk of not reaching the October deadline to move on to the main negotiations is now very real; which increases the risk of Britain leaving with no deal in March 2019. No deal would be the worst possible outcome for the British people."
Starmer called on both sides to redouble efforts and work together to reach a strong Article 50 deal and a close future partnership.
"If more negotiating sessions need to be added between now and the October deadline, they should be. Substantive progress and clear outcomes are urgently needed," he said.
Jonathan Portes, professor of economics and public policy at the School of Politics and Economics of King's College London, told Xinhua: "The Brexit talks have reached something of an impasse. The EU has made clear it wants to resolve the details of the UK's withdrawal, the Article 50 issues of citizens' rights, financial obligations, and the Northern Irish border, before discussing the future UK-EU trade relationship."
The UK has made equally clear it wants to discuss trade, as well as possible transitional arrangements, now.
"What we have now is a game of chicken. Who will blink first? Both sides stand to lose from a disorderly or chaotic Brexit, but the UK has a lot more to lose. Our research shows a chaotic Brexit would be disastrous for the UK. In addition, to the extent that this uncertainty means that some business will relocate from the UK to the continent, some EU countries or sectors may gain from delay."
Portes believes that some face-saving compromise is likely, but meanwhile, a period of stalemate is quite possible.
"This will result in some economic damage to the UK, in terms of lost business or investment. If it's only a few months, this should be relatively manageable, but if prolonged into next year, the impact could become quite severe," he added.
Member of Parliament (MP) Tom Brake, Brexit spokesman for the minority Liberal Democrats, said after the talks: "The lack of progress shows why we need to give people a chance to exit from Brexit."
He added: "The government is stuck in a Brexit quagmire of its own making, and risks taking the country down with it. Five months on since Article 50 was triggered, progress in these talks has been almost non-existent."
Brake accused the ruling Conservatives of remaining hostages of their own hard-line Brexiteers while the EU continues to show an overly rigid approach.
"At this rate, Britain is headed for a disastrous Brexit. It shows why we need to give people a chance to exit from Brexit through a vote on the final deal," said Brake.
