European Union leaders met at the end of this week to discuss their Brexit negotiation plans – albeit without UK prime minister, Theresa May.
The informal meeting at the European Council summit in Brussels came amid tensions over the handling of talks, but reports suggested that EU leaders devoted just twenty minutes to discussing Brexit at a late night meeting.
The Guardian newspaper said Mrs May’s fellow leaders had been set to consider how best to tackle Britain’s departure from the 28-member bloc over a three-course dinner to which the prime minister had not been invited.
But after talks about a series of other pressing issues, including the Syrian refugee crisis and ceasefire violations in eastern Ukraine, dragged on late into the night, the dinner was cancelled in favour of a brief discussion.
At least the 27 leaders have agreed that European Commission official Michel Barnier will lead talks for the EU - although MEPs are said to want a greater say.
Playing soft …
Chancellor Philip Hammond, meanwhile, played down suggestions that it could take ten years to reach a post-Brexit trade deal.
He told the BBC on Friday: "I don't expect that it will take as long as that," following reports that Britain's ambassador to the EU, Sir Ivan Rogers, suggested that others in Europe believed this could be the case.
But earlier in the week, Mr Hammond had also warned that Britain will not be able to leave the EU within two years without serious side effects.
The Chancellor said that a transitional deal – in which Britain would pay for access to the single market for about 24 months after leaving the EU – would help to ensure a “smooth” Brexit.
Giving evidence at the Treasury Select Committee on Brexit, he suggested a transitional deal may be required to prevent a sudden "cliff edge" change in trade arrangements which could cause financial instability both in the UK and across the continent.
And hard …
Eurosceptic Conservative MP Peter Lilley, however, who sits on the Exiting the European Union committee, said he would expect a transitional period of “weeks or months” rather than years to allow staff to prepare for a new system.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “If by the transitional deal the chancellor means a period of implementation of different processes that would be absolutely normal in any new arrangements.
“If there’s any suggestion that we have a temporary agreement followed by a permanent agreement, then that can’t be what the chancellor was saying because it would take as long to negotiate a temporary agreement as it would a permanent agreement.”
And Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament's chief Brexit negotiator, said any "transitional arrangement" should have a strict time limit.
A House of Lords report also warned of significant tariffs and other barriers to trade unless a transitional arrangement is adopted.
Investment choices …
Nearly 40% of American firms are considering moving their British office to the EU due to Brexit, with two-thirds saying the vote is impacting investment choices, according to a survey published this week.
Food and beverage, life sciences and financial services firms were most likely to consider relocating whilst aerospace firms were the least likely, the report by law firm Gowling WLG said.
Meanwhile first half results from Carpetright PLC (LON:CPR) disappointed due to "uneven" consumer demand in an "increasingly competitive market" and negative movements in foreign exchange rates with the pound having taken a tumble since June’s EU membership vote.
But Bellway PLC (LON:BWY) became the latest UK housebuilder to shrug aside the uncertainty caused by the Brexit vote as it reported a 7% rise in its rate of reservations in the four months since August.