BORIS Johnson hinted Brexit talks could last until New Year’s Eve as he vowed Britain “won’t be walking away”.
After a fraught 24 hours, the PM pulled the nation back from the brink of a No Deal yesterday.
He signalled that old acquaintances were not quite forgot as he agreed to continue the crunch talks after a make-or-break call with EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen.
The pair yesterday issued a joint statement which said: “Our negotiating teams have been working day and night over recent days.
“And despite the exhaustion after almost a year of negotiations, despite the fact deadlines have been missed over and over, we think it is responsible at this point to go the extra mile.”
Mr Johnson declared while “there is life there is hope” and renewed his offer to make a final dash to European capitals to get a deal over the line.
But striking a gloomier tone, he warned both sides are still “very far apart” on several crunch issues.
And with just two weeks until Brexit Day, he said a No Deal is still the “most likely” outcome.
The PM said: “As things stand, I am afraid we are still very far apart on some key things. But where there is life, there is hope. We are going to keep talking to see what we can do.
“The UK certainly won’t be walking away from the talks. I think people would expect us to go the extra mile.”
He added: “But I have to repeat the most likely thing now is we have to get ready for WTO [World Trade Organisation] terms, Australia terms.”
Mr Johnson ordered his Brexit lieutenant David Frost, to carry on negotiations, but no deadline for talks was set. Both sides now face a frantic fortnight to reach agreement by December 31.
But the PM warned: “The UK can’t be locked into the EU’s regulatory orbit and we have obviously got to take back control of our fisheries.”
Europe – led by France – is insisting they should still be able to help themselves to Britain’s fish stocks.
Brussels is also threatening to hit the UK with punitive tariffs if the country breaks with EU red tape in the future.
Eurocrats are claiming they have watered down the threat to impose “lightning tariffs” unilaterally.
They have finally conceded an independent panel should rule on whether the EU can impose tariffs on Britain.
But Westminster insiders insist they have not budged far enough.
Mr Johnson held a Cabinet call yesterday lunchtime at which he warned his top team a deal was unlikely.
One insider told HOAR: “He was quite sanguine – he said let’s leave Frost to get on with this.”
But the Cabinet has made it clear “they are behind him” if he presses the button and goes for a No Deal.
Optimistic EU bosses yesterday said the extension is a “good sign” which shows a deal “can be done”.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel added the two sides must take “every opportunity to reach a deal”.
Spain’s Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez said a No Deal outcome should be avoided “at all costs”.
She said: “No Deal, in the current circumstances, would be extremely negative for our economies.
“And if you go by what economists are saying, and there is plenty of literature on that, the UK would suffer even more than the European Union.”
