Post-Brexit trade talks at a very difficult point - No 10

Talks to reach a post-Brexit trade deal with the EU are at a "very difficult point", Downing Street has said.

State aid subsidies, fishing and enforcement of new rules remain the key sticking points in negotiations.

If a deal is not agreed by 31 December, the two sides will trade on World Trade Organization rules, meaning the introduction of taxes on imports.

The UK has accused the EU of making last minute demands - a claim denied by the EU's negotiators.

Boris Johnson's spokesman said the government was "committed to working hard to try and reach agreement" but emphasised that the UK couldn't "agree a deal that doesn't allow us to take back control".

He added that "time is in very short supply and we are at a very difficult point in talks".

The EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier - who has cancelled a planned return to Brussels to continue negotiations - told reporters earlier that it was "an important day".

He had been due to brief EU member state ambassadors about the talks but this has been cancelled and a European Commission spokesperson said "a full day of negotiations" is taking place in London.

Meanwhile, France's Europe minister, Clement Beaune, warned that his country could "veto" a deal if it did not satisfy their demands.

What happens next with Brexit?

Both the European and UK Parliaments would need to approve any deal before it can be implemented.

And the 27 EU national parliaments could also need to ratify an agreement - depending on the actual contents of the deal.

With Brexit, talks don't just go to the wire. They go beyond it.

Remember, the UK left the EU nearly a year after it was intended. So the fact it's taking this long to reach a trade deal shouldn't come as a shock.

But there really is pressure in the next few days to declare "deal or no deal".

On Monday, the Internal Market Bill returns to the Commons. It would allow the UK to sidestep aspects of the agreement that was reached to leave the EU - and break international law in a "limited and specific way".

Brussels has warned the government that this could scupper a trade deal.

That aside, any deal would have to be ready before EU leaders are invited to sign it off at a summit on Thursday.

It doesn't augur well that the UK and EU are even disagreeing about their disagreements.

The government says Brussels has hardened its position on how competition rules are policed; the EU counters that it has made no new demands.

But it's not surprising that both sides are crying "ouch" as the thorniest issues are now being grasped.

But while No 10 talks of "setbacks", it hasn't yet said negotiations have broken down. While discussions between both sides continue, the prospect of a deal is still possible.

Speaking to the BBC, former Conservative party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said the role of the European Court of Justice in ruling on future trade disputes was a "bigger sticking point" than fishing rights, which has been a major issue over the past few weeks.