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Boris Johnson has refused to rule out the prospect of a no-deal exit from the EU at the end of 2020, as he abruptly drew a press conference at the Nato meeting to an end.
The Independent challenged the prime minister to say whether it was possible that the UK would reach the end of its transition to Brexit in a year’s time without sealing a trade deal with either the EU or US.
But the PM dodged the question, instead saying he was going to wind up the press conference before launching into a tirade against Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party.
It was the second day in succession that Mr Johnson has ducked questions about the danger that the UK will crash out of the EU on unfavourable World Trade Organisation terms at the end of next year.
Under the terms of the withdrawal deal he struck with Brussels in October, the UK has until 31 December 2020 to agree a free trade agreement (FTA) or leave with no-deal. The EU has offered to extend the negotiations to 2022, but the Conservative party manifesto explicitly rules out requesting any further delay.
Best pictures from Final Say Brexit marchShow all 76 1 /76Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march Crowds march through central London
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march Protesters gather in Parliament Square
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march Mayor of London Sadiq Khan joins protesters
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march Anti-Brexit protesters fill Parliament Square in London
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march A demonstrator marches
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march Protesters push a float depicting Dominic Cummings using Boris Johnson as a puppet during the Final Say Brexit march in London
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march EU supporters react after the result of the vote on the deal delay was announced at the House of Commons
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march A demonstrator carries his dog draped in EU flag
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march Thousands of people taking part in a People's Vote march
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march Protesters use their flags to shelter from the rain
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march Protesters march towards Parliament Square
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march Anti-Brexit demonstrators carry placards and EU flags
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march Sir Oliver Letwin MP in Parliament Square, London, during an an anti-Brexit, Let Us Be Heard rally, after it was announced that the Letwin amendment, which seeks to avoid a no-deal Brexit on October 31, has been accepted
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march Thousands of people taking part in a People's Vote march
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march A protester with "Bollocks to Brexit" stickers on his head
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march Demonstrators march
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march Britain's main opposition Labour Party shadow Secretary of State for Exiting the EU Keir Starmer, shadow Home Secretary Dianne Abbott, shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer John McDonnell, shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry speaks on stage in Parliament Square
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march Anti-Brexit supporters cheer outside parliament
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march A EU supporter waves flags
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march Anti-Brexit supporters
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march Protesters shout and chant demanding a final say
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march Police look towards protesters
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march Pro-Brexit protesters outside the Houses of Parliament in London
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march People taking part in an Anti-Brexit, Let Us Be Heard march head to Parliament Square in London
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march People taking part in an Anti-Brexit, Let Us Be Heard march in Trafalgar Square
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march Anti-Brexit supporters cheer outside parliament
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march People taking part in an Anti-Brexit, Let Us Be Heard march past Trafalgar Square
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march Protesters shout and chant
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march Cory (7) sits on his father's shoulders as protesters march towards Parliament Square
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march People attend the 'Together for the Final Say' march
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march Protesters march towards Parliament Square
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march Mayor of London Sadiq Khan speaks on stage
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march A woman in EU costume
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march Anti-Brexit protesters fill Parliament Square in London
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march Anti-Brexit protesters hold an Independent banner
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march Protesters hold an anti-Brexit placard by The Independent stall during the Final Say Brexit march in London
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march Anti-Brexit protesters in Parliament Square, London,
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march Demonstrators hold placards and EU flags
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march An anti-Brexit protester joins in the Final Say Brexit march on 19 October
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march EU supporters march in London
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march Sir Patrick Stewart and Paul McGann join in the Final Say Brexit march in London on 19 October
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march EU supporters march
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march A demonstrator shouts into a megaphone as she marches
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march A dog dressed in an anti-Brexit placard is walked in the Final Say Brexit march in London
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march EU supporters march
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march A morris dancer takes part in the Final Say Brexit march in London
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march Whippets are dressed in EU flag clothing during the Final Say Brexit march in London
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march Protesters march towards parliament in the Final Say Brexit march in London on 19 October 2019
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march An anti-Brexit demonstrator takes part in the Final Say Brexit march in London
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march EU supporters call on the government to give Britons a vote on the final Brexit deal
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march Anti-Brexit protesters
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march An anti-Brexit protester
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march Anti-Brexit protesters demonstrate in London during the Final Say Brexit march on 19 October
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march Protesters push a float depicting Dominic Cummings using Boris Johnson as a puppet during the Final Say Brexit march in London
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march Protesters march towards parliament from Park Lane in the Final Say Brexit march in London on 19 October 2019
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march Marchers visit The Independent stall during the Final Say March in London
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Best pictures from Final Say Brexit march An anti-Brexit protester holds a sign calling for a Final Say during a march in London
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Senior EU negotiator Sabine Weyand has said that the 11-month deadline leaves time at most for a “bare bones” FTA, while many trade experts believe a deal would take far longer.
At a press conference to conclude the Nato 70th anniversary leaders’ meeting in Watford, Hertfordshire, Mr Johnson was asked whether he had made it “crystal clear” to US president Donald Trump that the NHS and pharmaceuticals were off the table in any post-Brexit trade deal and whether he accepted that the UK could be leaving the EU in a year’s time without a deal with either the US or its former European partners.
He responded: “I think everybody by now has rumbled this for the nonsense that it is. I think I might just wind up this press conference now because I think we have started to scrape the barrel.”
A report by the UK in a Changing Europe thinktank this week warned that a no-deal outcome in December next year could deliver a hit of 3.2 to 4.5 per cent to UK GDP and reduce government revenues by up to £28 billion annually.
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