Chancellor Philip Hammond said on Wednesday that the UK would negotiate a "unique" Brexit agreement which includes financial services, just hours after EU negotiators rejected the possibility of such a deal.
"It is possible to include financial services within a trade deal but that it is very much in our mutual interest to do so," Hammond said.
Hammond's speech comes within hours of European Council president Donald Tusk saying such a deal was "out of the question".
Die EU würde von den Briten gerne bald wissen, wie die sich die künftigen Beziehungen vorstellen. In Brüssel hält man ein Handelsabkommen für wahrscheinlich, das sich an das CETA-Abkommen anlehnt, das man mit Kanada ausgehandelt hatte. Doch erst im März gibt sich die EU Leitlinien für die anstehenden Verhandlungen.
The government’s trade bill has its second reading on Tuesday, something which has gone unnoticed by many campaigners and commentators, let alone the wider population. And that’s a problem. Anyone who cares about democracy, our nation’s prosperity and the future of post-Brexit Britain, should care deeply. It is nowhere near as innocuous as it sounds. It’s a Trojan horse.