Boris Johnson under pressure to extend Brexit transition amid border and virus chaos – follow live

Time is “obviously in very short supply” to get a Brexit trade deal agreed and ratified by 1 January, Boris Johnson’s spokesperson has said.

“We will need to ratify any agreement ahead of 1 January. The Leader of the House made clear that we would recall parliament in order to give MPs a vote on the necessary legislation,” they said.

When asked if there could be a “stand still” agreement to maintain current arrangements until a deal is in place, the spokesperson added: “We have been clear on this point that we will either leave the transition period on 31 December with a free-trade agreement or we will leave with Australia-style WTO terms. That remains the case.”

Downing Street has said talks on a post-Brexit trade deal with the EU “remain difficult” with “significant differences” in key areas.

“We continue to explore every route to a deal that is in line with our principles,” Boris Johnson’s official spokesperson said.

A German MEP has called for an extension to the Brexit transition period to allow the European Parliament to examine any trade deal which is reached with the UK.

Bernd Lange wrote Twitter: “A possible agreement will only be finally adopted by the #EP in the New Year after thorough examination. Therefore we need transitional solutions.

“Extension of the transitional period would be the best. But it takes two to tango, #UK would also have to agree.”

Boris Johnson will hold a Downing Street press conference this afternoon following a meeting of the Cobra emergency committee on the disruption caused by the new coronavirus strain.

The committee has met to discuss the spread of the new coronavirus variant and the decision of a number of countries to ban travel from the UK.

France will stick to its “red lines”, such as the right to fish in British waters, as Brexit talks continue between the UK and EU, French government spokesperson Gabriel Attal has said.

The issue of EU fishing rights in British waters has become a key obstacle in the negotiations as the end of the transition period approaches.

Labour leader Keir Starmer has said in his speech setting out Labour’s position on the Union that his party will not support a second Scottish independence referendum next year, and accused the Conservatives of not believing in devolution.

Reactions from ministers in the Scottish National Party have started coming in, with some saying they had “heard it all before”.

Gavin Newlands, MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire, retweeted this:

Keir Starmer has called on the government to act now to get a Brexit trade deal done, and urged Boris Johnson to get the deal he had “promised”.

He said: “Get that deal over the line today or tomorrow, don’t delay. People were promised a deal and you must deliver that deal.”

The Labour leader spoke out after giving a speech on the future of devolution in the United Kingdom.

He insisted a no-deal Brexit would be a “very, very bad outcome and a complete failure of the Government”.

He told Boris Johnson: “You promised an oven-ready deal, get on and deliver it.”

A trade union that represents parliamentary staff has that any recall of Parliament should be done “on a fully remote basis” to allow MPs to sit virtually.

Mike Clancy, general secretary of Prospect, said: “Prospect and the other parliamentary staff unions have been calling for months for Parliament to move to a fully hybrid system before the situation in London got worse – (Commons Leader) Jacob Rees-Mogg refused at every turn.

“We are now in the situation where London and much of the South East have been effectively forced back into lockdown, yet staff are facing the potential full recall of Parliament either in relation to Covid or to approve a Brexit trade deal, if one is reached.

“Democracy must be allowed to continue but it must not be at the expense of the safety of parliamentary staff. Any recall must be done on a fully remote basis so that the numbers of people entering Westminster can be kept to an absolute minimum.

“Our professional staff have already proven that they can manage the technological challenge well.

“All we need now is for Jacob Rees-Mogg and the Government to abandon their baseless and dangerous opposition to remote sittings and we can move forward without putting anyone at unnecessary risk.”