Brexit transition must end by 2022, says Hammond

Chancellor Philip Hammond has said any "transitional deal" in the period after Brexit must end by the time of the next general election.

He said there must be "business as usual, life as normal" for Britons as the UK exits the EU.

"Many things would look similar" the day after Brexit - on 29 March 2019 - as the UK moved gradually towards a new relationship with the EU, he said. But he added the transition must end by June 2022, before the next election.

Meanwhile, the Guardian has reported that Malta's PM Joseph Muscat has said he is "starting to believe that Brexit will not happen".

The UK is due to leave the EU at the end of March 2019, but there has been increasing talk of a "transitional" or "implementation" stage to smooth the Brexit process, before a new long-term relationship with the EU is in force.

It could mean a period during which some EU rules would continue to apply to the UK after it has technically left the bloc.

Newspaper reports have suggested these could include allowing the free movement of people for a period, something that was seen as a key issue in the vote to leave the EU.

Mr Hammond also appeared to acknowledge that it could mean new trade deals with non-EU countries could not be signed during that period, but said it would "take some time for us to negotiate" them and the important thing was to be able to "get started on that process".

The chancellor told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the length of any transitional deal would "be driven by technical considerations - how long it will take us to put the necessary arrangements in place".

"People have talked about a year, two years, maybe three years... I think there's a broad consensus that this process has to be completed by the scheduled time of the next general election, which is in June 2022."

(BBC)