Business chiefs call for Brexit to be put on hold if no trade deal is struck by the end of the two-year EU negotiation process
Boris Johnson will address the British Chambers of Commerce after they set out a series of demands for our EU divorce
BUSINESS chiefs have called for Brexit to be put on hold if no trade deal is struck by the end of the two-year negotiation process.
Boris Johnson will address the British Chambers of Commerce after they set out a series of demands for our EU divorce.
They also called for firms to be allowed freedom to continue recruiting skilled and low-skilled workers from the continent after the UK has broken away from Brussels.
The Foreign Secretary will speak at the organisation's annual conference amid concerns about Theresa May's timetable for Brexit.
The Prime Minister has pledged to trigger Article 50 by the end of March and hopes to complete a trade deal alongside the agreement on the divorce from the EU.
The BCC said concluding both parts of the deal within the two years allowed by Article 50 would be the "ideal outcome" - but "should this prove impossible, we should seek an extension to the negotiating period to enable completion of both agreements concurrently".
Mr Johnson's appearance at the gathering in London comes after Sir John Major said the chance of no agreement being reached within the time limit is "very high".
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The ex-PM attacked Mrs May for leading the public to expect a future outside the European Union that is "unreal and over-optimistic".
Setting out its recommendations for the Brexit negotiations, the BCC said a transitional deal, which has been spoken about as a possibility by politicians on both sides of the English Channel, is only desirable if completing both strands of the negotiations simultaneously proves impossible.
The BCC's report said the aim of the negotiation process should be to avoid a "sudden disruption to our trading relations" with the EU and all options for the talks should have a "clear timescale" and avoid "significant or repeated implementation costs".
The group also called for an immigration system "with minimal bureaucracy, costs or barriers" after Brexit, with EU workers exempted from the Tier 2 visa system for skilled workers.
Meanwhile, the Government has shot down the first challenge in the House of Lords against its plan to formally trigger the negotiations.
Peers voted by 299 to 136 against an amendment to the Brexit Bill demanding the UK retains membership of the European single market.