UK will need to extend Brexit transition, Merkel ally warns Britain

UK will need extension to agree Brexit deal as pandemic derails talks

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Boris Johnson must extend the UK's transition out of the EU for up to two years to avoid compounding the economic damage of the coronavirus pandemic with a hugely disruptive and disorderly Brexit, according to a close ally of Angela Merkel.

In an interview with the Observer, Norbert Rittgen, chair of the Bundestag's foreign affairs committee, said it was now impossible to see how the UK and other EU countries could agree even a minimal outline free trade agreement this year because the talks were so behind schedule.