British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen instructed their negotiators to resume trade talks today in a last ditch attempt to bridge significant differences. In a joint statement, the two leaders recognised the seriousness of their differences and said that a further effort should be undertaken by the negotiating teams to assess whether they can be resolved.

British and EU negotiators paused trade talks on Friday to call in their leaders to try to narrow the gaps and get an agreement after a week of negotiations failed to bridge significant divergences between the two sides.