Sajid Javid Brexit without trade deal ‘unlikely’ as he blames Labour for UK homelessness
Chancellor Sajid Javid has insisted Britain is unlikely to leave the EU without a trade deal in place at the end of next year, but declined to rule the possibility out.
The Tories are seeking to agree a free trade deal with the bloc by the end of 2020.
Read more: John McDonnell: A Labour government would save families thousands
“I am confident that we will get a deal done… I think (leaving without a deal) is extremely remote,” Javid told BBC radio.
He also said the UK will have equivalence on financial services – meaning the UK will have standards just as rigorous as the EU on cross border trade in the financial sector.
He said: “That’s what we want, and that’s what the EU has agreed”.
The EU has agreed that the basis for any future trade deal would be “equivalence” – but has not granted equivalence yet.
Separately, the chancellor also blamed Labour for Britain’s rise in homelessness – despite his own party having been in power for the last nine years.
“Homelessness reached its peak in 2008 under the last Labor government,” he told Sky News.
“Since then it’s down by almost half. There’s still a long way to go, we still have work to do, but it’s Labour that was responsible for the massive rise in homelessness.”
Figures from homelessness charity Shelter found the number of homeless people in the UK rose by 13,000 to 320,000 people in 2018.
Moreover, earlier this week it found 183 children – enough to fill two double-decker buses – lose their homes per day.
The charity’s Generation Homeless report found child homelessness is at its highest rate since 2006. At least 135,000 children will be living in temporary accommodation on Christmas Day.
Read more: Sajid Javid: My pitch to the businesses of Britain
Sky News TV anchor Sarah Hewson replied to the chancellor: “You’ve failed because the numbers are up. You can’t dispute those numbers.”
Javid is a former secretary of state for housing.