Sunday shows round-up: 'One year is enough' to complete a UK-EU trade deal, says Tusk

Donald Tusk – ‘One year is enough’ to complete trade deal

Andrew Marr spoke to the former President of the European Council, Donald Tusk. Boris Johnson’s critics have heaped scorn upon the idea that the UK and the EU can reach a comprehensive free trade agreement without extending the current Brexit transition period past the end of 2020. Tusk however, begged to differ on this:

"One year is enough to finalise our negotiations"

Donald Tusk says a UK-EU trade deal could be completed within a year, and both sides "have to demonstrate good will"https://t.co/MhDfkWYZtI #Marr pic.twitter.com/iCDGQgUmJE

— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) February 2, 2020

DT: One year is enough to finalise our negotiations… We have to demonstrate good will on both sides… Business is business… The campaign is also over. The game is over.

The EU was either ‘bogeyman’ or ‘whipping boy’

Tusk lamented how he felt the EU had been made a scapegoat in British politics over many years, and blamed what he saw as an ‘irresponsible, even hostile narrative’ towards the institution, which contributed towards the eventual referendum result:

Donald Tusk says the EU was the "bogeyman or a whipping boy" in the British narrative, portrayed as being "responsible for every failure"https://t.co/QlAsa0Cphi