Wake Smith chairman John Baddeley looks at the latest Brexit news…
The Brexit negotiating process continues to rumble on as parties on both sides drag the debate into the final days of December, rolling over various pledged deadlines in order to exhaust all possibilities before we step into 2021 and cross the immovable December 31 exit date.
Talks are still failing to see either party reach agreeable middle ground on contentious issues around the UK's control over its laws and fishing waters or guarantees over competition rules.
The debate over a potential deal is now turning to speculation over whether the UK would actually benefit from a trade deal, which could compromise its ability to trade competitively outside of the EU, or whether the country might actually have more to gain from a no deal outcome.
Many sources have been reluctant to make this speculation up to this point, with a deal always looking like the most probable outcome, but as time eats into the talks and threats from both sides are leaked to the media, agreement seems less likely by the hour.
Confusion still reigns over who will concede and on what grounds, with EU officials claiming that progress is being made, while our own Prime Minister talks about no deal as the most likely outcome, indicating that there are still big stumbling blocks to any agreement.
Most UK businesses at this late hour will be working on the reasonable assumption that the UK may default to WTO trading terms from 01 January and for those who haven't made this assumption, it would be wise to do so.
Should businesses be worried about no deal?
Our advice is that worrying will achieve very little, but that thorough preparation will enable most businesses to survive, with many already ably capitalising on changes to our overseas trading system.
Rather than seeing the future as a challenge, we would urge business owners to seek out opportunities presented by new trading avenues and different supply networks. We are on hand to advise on the legal specifics of what companies will require to operate in a post-Brexit world.
There is of course, much to understand about business in 2021, which may appear confusing and challenging to many, but as a diverse and forward thinking law firm, we stand ready to help and advise businesses and families as they negotiate their own course through forthcoming changes.
The one thing that we can all look forward to in 2021 is less uncertainty once the official EU exit date has been met and the air is allowed to clear. It will not herald a quick cessation of discussions between the EU and the UK, but we will at least know more about the country's future direction.
