UK business groups urge Britain, EU to find compromise: FT

More than 70 British business groups representing over 7 million workers have made a last-ditch attempt to persuade politicians to get back on the dialogue table next week to strike a deal with the European Union, the Financial Times newspaper reported on Sunday.

The groups ranged from the CBI, TheCityUK and techUK to the National Farmers’ Union, British Retail Consortium and the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders and asked for the sides to find a compromise over trade terms, the report added.

“With compromise and tenacity, a deal can be done. Businesses call on leaders on both sides to find a route through”, the newspaper quoted the groups as saying in a statement.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson had said he had full confidence that UK and the EU will avoid a potentially disastrous cliff-edge “no deal” at the end of this year.

But he refused to back down on controversial new legislation that he openly admits will break international law and which has put his government at loggerheads with Brussels.

The proposed law, which overrides parts of the Brexit treaty relating to trade in Northern Ireland, could torpedo already fraught trade talks with the European Union (EU).