As UK negotiator David Frost has said that there has been "very little progress towards agreement on the most significant outstanding issues between us" in the latest round of trade negotiations and with weeks left to negotiate, the sensible thing to do would be to pause the negotiations.
In a recent poll of the country, 66 percent of the public believe the UK government ‘should focus 100% of its energy on dealing with coronavirus for the rest of the year’, including nearly half of Conservative and Leave voters.
Of those who support an extension, 64 percent want the transition period to be extended ‘indefinitely until the crisis is resolved’.
Two-thirds of respondents said they thought the government ‘should focus 100% of its energy on dealing with Coronavirus for the rest of the year’, whereas only a third (34%) thought the UK government could ‘balance dealing with the Coronavirus outbreak whilst also giving necessary time to negotiate a full trade deal with the EU before the end of the year.’ There was agreement among all age groups and UK regions.
Of those who supported an extension, 64 percent wanted the transition period to be extended ‘indefinitely until the crisis is resolved’, whereas 36 percent wanted the transition period to be extended ‘for a maximum of a year.
The call for an extension to the transition period has been made by numerous bodies and pressure groups, including the Scottish and Welsh Governments. In an interview with the BBC, The IMF Managing Director said it would be “wise” not to add to the “unprecedented uncertainty” arising from the pandemic.
So lets do the sensible thing and pause the transition period and protect our country.