Brexit Bulletin: Pandemic Stations

(Bloomberg) --

What’s Happening? Business is worried about mixing coronavirus with Brexit.

British businesses are getting increasingly rattled by the prospect of the coronavirus and Brexit feeding off each other. Some are privately urging Prime Minister Boris Johnson to delay the end of the post-Brexit transition period, as Bloomberg’s Joe Mayes reports.

But the government is determined to press on and has ruled out any extension. With face-to-face trade talks in London next week now abandoned, the path to a deal is getting harder to navigate. Even the Telegraph, a bastion of pro-Brexit sentiment, opens the door to delay today, both in a column by Jeremy Warner and an opinion piece by former U.K. trade negotiator David Henig. 

A draft agreement published by the European Union on Friday is a reminder of just how far apart the two sides are: as part of a wide-ranging deal, Brussels wants London to be bound by the European Court of Justice as well as the European Convention on Human Rights. Johnson has refused ruled out the former and refused to commit to the latter.

Don’t expect the same depth of co-operation when the U.K. produces its own draft deal next week. The prime minister is only after a limited Canada-type deal on goods.

With time slipping away and the coronavirus rightfully occupying everyone’s attention, it gets ever harder for both sides to reach a comprehensive deal. And it’s conceivable that outcome—a hard Brexit by distraction—might suit Johnson just fine.

Beyond Brexit

• The pandemic will require a joined-up global response out of step with today’s populist times, writes Bloomberg News Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait.

• Germany is ready to spend  $600 billion on virus aid, and the European Commission backs stimulus for member states.

• U.S. regulators approved a new, speedy coronavirus test from Swiss drugmaker Roche.

• Italy’s coronavirus nightmare offers a preview of what’s coming. Here’s how the virus is spreading around the world.

We’re tracking the latest on the coronavirus outbreak and the global response. Sign up here for our daily newsletter.

Brexit in Brief

Elections Delayed | Local and mayoral elections in the U.K. due to be held on May 7 have been postponed until 2021 due to the spread of coronavirus.

Open Borders | A hard border in Ireland might not have been such a bad idea after all, at least when it comes to halting the spread of the coronavirus, Bloomberg’s Dara Doyle reports.

Robo-Brexit | Areas of the U.K. that voted for Brexit are disproportionately at risk from losing jobs to automation, according to a study by the U.K. non-profit Future of Work and reported by Quartz.

Bring Back Brexit | The upsurge of virus conversations has left Robert Shrimsley of the Financial Times mourning old arguments over Brexit. “In a choice between the WTO and the WHO I’ll take the rules-of-origin debate any day,” he writes.

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To contact the editor responsible for this story: Adam Blenford at ablenford@bloomberg.net, Chris Kay

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