No 10 claims coronavirus crisis strengthens need for UK to be free of EU regulation after 2020

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. And it's not just any old pundit suggesting the extension - it's the IMF

The IMF has suggested the UK and the EU should not "add to uncertainty" from coronavirus by refusing to extend the period to negotiate a post-Brexit trade deal.

Managing director Kristalina Georgieva, when asked what she thought about the prospect of no trade deal this year and no extension to talks, told the BBC that because of the "unprecedented uncertainty" arising from the pandemic, it would be "wise not to add more on top of it".

"I really hope that all policymakers everywhere would be thinking about [reducing uncertainty]. It is tough as it is, let's not make it any tougher," she said.

Asked specifically if she would advise an extension to trade talks, Ms Georgieva said: "My advice would be to seek ways in which this element of uncertainty is reduced in the interests of everybody, the UK, the EU, and the whole world."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52304821

Reaching a decent deal, for either side, by the end of 2020, was always going to be tight (many had already said 'no deal' had become a likely outcome again, thanks to the Tories' insistence they wouldn't ask for an extension), and now, with 2 months of negotiation lost so far and, in all likelihood, another 2 months to be lost before they can start face-to-face negotiations with a meaningful idea of the economic situation for the UK and EU, 'no deal' now looks the inevitable outcome of a pig-headed refusal to go for an extension.