⁍ Britain’s focus this week is on trying to make progress in formal trade talks with the European Union.

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⁍ A spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson reiterated that significant gaps still remained.

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⁍ The EU’s position has been less straightforward, and we continue to be asked to accept provisions that do not reflect our status as an independent country, he said.

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– As Britain and the European Union prepare to wrap up two years of negotiations on a post-Brexit trade deal, Reuters reports that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s office is reiterating that “significant gaps” remain between Britain and the EU. “As we are entering the final stages of the negotiations our focus is on what it will take to get a trade agreement in place, although the last two weeks of informal talks have been relatively positive there remains much to be done,” Johnson’s spokesman says. “The fundamentals of our position have not changed. From the start of this process we’ve been saying that we simply want the standard free trade agreement … The EU’s position has been less straightforward, and we continue to be asked to accept provisions that do not reflect the reality of our status as an independent country.”