It's not over until it's over. This is BoJo's post-Brexit 'to-do' list

Video Credit: Reuters Studio
Published on January 30, 2020 - Duration: 01:57s

It's not over until it's over. This is BoJo's post-Brexit 'to-do' list

The United Kingdom leaves the European Union an hour before midnight on Friday but Prime Minister Boris Johnson has a bulging to do list for what he has cast a "new dawn" for the country.

Francesca Lynagh reports.


It's not over until it's over. This is BoJo's post-Brexit 'to-do' list

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has finally delivered on his promise to ''Get Brexit Done," but it's far from done and dusted.

There's still plenty on his to-do list to shape the future relationship between the UK and the EU.

First of all, Britain needs to begin negotiating trade deals with other countries.

The top priority is the EU, which accounts for about half of the UK's trade.

They have until the end of the year.

Failure means a potentially crippling no-deal Brexit.

Johnson also wants a trade deals with others, along with the United States.

Then there's the relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump to address.

Potentially aggravated by Johnson's decision to grant Huawei a limited role in Britain's 5G mobile network, while the U.S. wants to exclude the Chinese telecoms giant from the West's next-generation communications.

And then there's Iran.

London has repeatedly said it wants the nuclear deal with Iran to succeed despite Trump's abandonment of the pact.

Johnson has called for a new Trump deal to replace it.

Johnson has to decide whether to side with the U.S. or keep the United Kingdom aligned with the EU's Germany and France.

Other issues including security, energy, transport links, and data flow all need to be dealt with during the transition period.

One of the biggest hazards on the road to a deal will be fishing rights, sparring over which has already begun.

On paper, the EU and Britain have 11 months to strike a deal on future relations.

In reality the timeframe is much smaller.

Talks will not formally start until after EU governments agree a negotiating mandate late next month.

The two sides would then have to strike an agreement by the middle of October to leave time needed to secure the required parliamentary ratification before the end of the year.

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