this is bbc world news, the headlines... the european union and united kingdom have announced that a post—brexit trade deal has been agreed. the european commission president ursula von der leyen described it as a "good, fair and balanced deal". prime minister borisjohnson said the uk has "completed "the biggest trade deal yet", adding ‘we have taken back control of our money, borders, laws, trade and our fishing waters‘. the eu's chief negotiator, michel barnier, said the clock is no longer ticking, and expressed his relief that a deal has been agreed. lord david frost, who has been leading the uk team, says he is "pleased and proud" in their efforts to secure an "excellent deal".

you're watching the bbc news with ben bland. a post brexit deal has been agreed four and a half years after the uk voted to leave the european union. the prime minister said it was "the biggest trade deal yet" with the european union — and said britain had taken back control of its laws, borders, and fishing waters. after months of talks and frantic last—minute wrangling, negotiators reached agreement a short time ago with just a week to go before the deadline. the president of the european commission, ursula von de leyen described it a good deal — fair and balanced and one that provided solid foundations for a new start with the uk — a long—term friend. the british prime minister, borisjohnson, says the deal will drive prosperity across the whole continent. it's very important in this agreement, line by line, chapter by chapter... it will be fair and remain so. the

eu rules and standards will be respected. we have effective tools to react if fair competition is distorted and impacts our trade. secondly, we will continue cooperating with the uk in all areas of mutual interest. for example, in the field of climate change, energy, security and transport. together, we still achieve more than we do apart. thirdly, we have secured five and a half years of full predictability for our fishing communities and strong tools to incentivize to remain so. of course, this whole debate has always been about sovereignty. but we should cut through the sound and ask ourselves, what sovereignty actually means in

the 21st century. for me, it's about being able to seamlessly do work, travel, study and do business in 27 countries. it's about pooling our strength and speaking together in a world full of great powers. and in a time of crisis, it is about pulling each other up instead of trying to get back to your feet alone. the european union shows how this works in practice. a no—deal in the world can change reality, gravity and in today's economy in today's world. we are one of the giants. the operation is... translation: the european union is well—prepared for breakfast, we are obviously aware of of the fact that this agreement is not going to solve all problems and we have been working

closely with authorities and business in europe to ensure that they are well—prepared. in our new budget, there is 5 billion euros ring fenced to help people and companies that are very much affected by brexit. time to turn the page and look to the future. the united kingdom is a third country, but it remains a trusted partner. we are long—standing allies, we shared the same value and interest, whether it be the 26, the next summit in glasgow or upcoming uk g7 and italian g20 presidencies, the european union at the united kingdom will stand shoulder to shoulder to deliver on our common global goals. let's speak now to the leader of the

brexit party, nigel farage. , what do you make of the deal that we know about so far? look, you know, there's a lot of detail, 2000 pages oi’ there's a lot of detail, 2000 pages or $0 there's a lot of detail, 2000 pages or so to go through. i'm obviously very concerned about the level playing field because the european commission seems very confident that they've got us in a position that they've got us in a position that they have something of us that if we come to terror —— competitive, they will put tariffs on us. i don't know what the mechanism is going to be. fisheries, it's a rotten deal, really, for british fishermen come another five and have your transition with tiny increases over those years. i was pleased to hear michel barnier say that we have not signed up to a common agreement on foreign policy or defence. that struck me as being quite significant. but taking the big picture, you know, there are things here that i will not be happy with, of course, but, you know, somebody has fought for 30 years for us to leave the european union, this is a

big moment. it's a massive step forward. it's the end of the brexit war that have bedeviled british politics and divided families for all these years, and i think it's a big historic important moment. do you feel that perhaps there was too much attention paid to the politically important, the symbolically important matter of fisheries, but one which is economically a lot less significant than, say, financial services to the uk economy. if you will, focusing so much on how you do not divide the sprouts that you let the turkey go cold in the meantime. of course, our vision is if we were like norway or iceland, we'd be catching 90% of the fish in our waters. and you are quite right in some ways, because this is a very good deal for french winemakers. it's a very good deal for german car manufacturing industries, but for the city of london, the one bit of our economy, financial services, we traded with surplus with europe, there is nothing and no guarantees whatsoever. so i think, you know,

the truth of it is, there will be a lot of people in the european union happy tonight with where things are. i'm not over the moon about all of this, but, you know, we have reached a point after years of trench wa rfa re a point after years of trench warfare in british politics, division and bitterness that, you know, even i have to say that let's just mark this moment. it's not perfect, but it's a lot better off than we were five years ago. so, on the whole, would you say that you are happy with the way that the prime minister has gone about negotiating all of this? it's a lot better than theresa may was. let's put it like that. look, it's far from perfect. i'd much rather be hadn't signed a new treaty with the european union. i'd much rather be really did have the canada style trade agreements. if we find in the detail there are some hidden horrors, than i might change my

mood, but, look, ijust think that's, i think david frost did a lot better job that's, i think david frost did a lot betterjob than the previous team, and he was appointed by boris johnson. johnson said get brexit done, it's not perfect, but do you know something, in two months‘ time on this programme, we won‘t be arguing about brexit. i think many people will breathe a sigh of relief at that. 0k, nigel farage, in terms of the scrutiny of this, we hear the deal could run something like 2000 pages. are there not questions about whether parliament is giving enough ofa whether parliament is giving enough of a chance to look at the detail of it and make sure that they are all happy with what it means and what they are signing up to? it's absolutely impossible for members of parliament in a few short days to go through this, understand it, analyse it and vote on it. so i think what has to happen next week as there has to bea has to happen next week as there has to be a vote in principle, and in the new year, parliament can spend time looking at us, going through it, just as the european parliament will come and just as parliament‘s all over the rest of europe well. so

i think if the government is sensible it will go for a vote on principle, otherwise, it will look cynically, you know, the deal was delayed until the last possible moment so that people couldn‘t scrutinise it. what would you have done differently if it was you in that room thrashing this out? well, look, i wouldn‘t have signed up to the original withdrawal agreement because it was a new european treaty. and it put us on the back footin treaty. and it put us on the back foot in many areas. so i wouldn‘t have been in this position. personally, you know, whatever deal we‘ve got or what we know of the deal, i would we‘ve got or what we know of the deal, iwould much we‘ve got or what we know of the deal, i would much rather have left on australian terms, and been com pletely on australian terms, and been completely free, but we don‘t get in life everything that we want. i wa nted life everything that we want. i wanted this country to leave the european union. i wanted us to be free to get on with the rest of our lives. this isn‘t perfect, but i will tell you what, i‘m a lot happier now with the position than i was back in 2015. 0k, nigel perez, leader of the brexit party, thank

you very much. thank you. -- nigel farage. borisjohnson you very much. thank you. -- nigel farage. boris johnson has you very much. thank you. -- nigel farage. borisjohnson has said the deal will drive prosperity across the whole continent. i'm very pleased to tell you this afternoon that we have completed the biggest trade deal yet, worth £660 billion a year, a comprehensive canada style free trade deal between the uk and the eu, a dealthat free trade deal between the uk and the eu, a deal that will protect jobs across this country, a deal that will allow goods, uk goods and to be sold without tariffs and without quotas in the eu markets. a deal which will, if anything, lower oui’ deal which will, if anything, lower our companies and exporters to do even more business with our european friends. and yet, which achieves something that the people of this country instinctively knew was doable, but which they were told was impossible. we have taken back

control of our laws and our destiny. we have ta ken control of our laws and our destiny. we have taken back control of every jot and tittle of our regulation in a way that is complete and unfettered from january the 1st, we are outside the customs union, and outside the single markets. reddish laws will be made solely by the british parliament interpreted by uk judges sitting in uk courts, and the jurisdiction of the european court ofjustice will come to an end. lets speak to steve, the deputy leader of the alliance party in northern ireland. firstly, your reaction to what we have learned today of the deal. well, there is a certain tinge of sadness, there is no such good —— there is no such thing as a sensible brexit. all moves inside brexit are an act against the devolved governments. apart from both uk and

ireland to be part of the european union. we will see on the back of this a whole range of opportunities and benefits that people have taken advantage forfour and benefits that people have taken advantage for four generations now being lost, but against that, we know about the implications of a no—deal brexit will be catastrophic for our economy and would make the implementation of the northern ireland protocol including the checks in the irish sea more difficult. so the removal of tariffs arkham significant. there will be checks and make major differences that will continue for northern ireland. is supposed the crucial point which was at one point did not —— dominating discussions where the issue of a hard border between northern ireland and the republic of ireland. that will not happen and that surely must be a huge relief. well, absolutely. that‘s been essentially a given, particularly on the european union side right from the european union side right from the onset of this process. it‘s more

than simply an issue of practicalities of a border on the island, but potentially 270 border crossings, it‘s also about the psychological impact that that would play a key parts of the good friday agreement. of the difficult to was that whenever the uk made a decision to go with the customs union or the single markets, that meant that the interface between the uk economic institutions and the european union would have to be drawn somewhere on the map, and that now follows on the irish cecum and that is because a certain degree of problems. now, the protocol decisions that have been taken around this month mitigate that to a certain extent, but there still will be a whole range of challenges nonetheless. how much do you think life will change on a practical basis for the people you represent come january the 1st. well, whether people are british or irish citizens, those where i reset his will continue to be members of

european union and continue to have those rates going forward. that is a certain difference in terms of people who, in many respects, may well be neighbours in the same streets, so that is a certain detraction. i think we will see northern ireland‘s economy over time becoming more aligned to the economy on the rest of the islands, the way the structures are set up, and brexit has opened up much more of a debate around the constitutional question, something that was largely settled prior to 2016, but we are now much more fluid debates, and that may well have the consequence of destabilising our politics over the years to come. 0k, steve from the years to come. 0k, steve from the alliance party, thanks very much for joining the alliance party, thanks very much forjoining us. the eu‘s chief negotiator, michel barnier, expressed his relief at a deal has been agreed. with the clock is no longer taking. after four years of collective eu

unity to preserve peace and stability on the island of ireland's, to protect the citizens and the single markets, to build a new partnership with the uk. thank you all, thank you all. this is the work of so many women and men here in the commission, madam president, all the services and in particular that you task force for brexit and in the member states, the council, the european parliament, i also pay tribute also to the you uk negotiating team and the chief negotiator, david frost, and the eu deputies. michel barnier there. let‘s speak to david mcallister, member of european parliament and chair of the uk

coordination committee joins us now from northern germany. very good to have you with us. the british my minister claiming that this was a good dealfor the minister claiming that this was a good deal for the whole of europe. do you share that view? well, i welcome the fact that a deal has been reached. what i‘ve seen and read until now, it seems that this deal is fairand read until now, it seems that this deal is fair and balanced for both sides, and certainly, this draught agreement protects our citizens, our single markets and our long—term economic interests as the european union. as far as the businesses in your country in germany who rely on being able to export with frictionless ease to the uk, do you feel that the european union has done to defend their interests is enough you to go back to them and say, your interests have been protected 7 yes, we offer the united kingdom something we have never authored ——

offered a country before, tier free, quota free to the world‘s largest single markets, but this came at a certain condition, and a certain condition was a level playing field. we won fair competition on both sides of the channel, and what i have read until now in the agreement, we have guarantees that standards are maintained, and that oui’ standards are maintained, and that our businesses and citizens are protected so, i think this is a good agreement from our point of view, but of course, the process is not over yet. these negotiations have been very challenging, and now that 27 member states of the european union and then the european parliament need time to scrutinise all the details reached out negotiator‘s level. all the details reached out negotiator's level. is there anything about the deal that you are disappointed with? well, the first thing i have seen is that the united kingdom will no longer participate in the erasmus plus programme. this is something which i regret because

i think it‘s important that young people are able to spend some time of their school or study days in another country in the united kingdom, of course, is an attractive partner with all the world famous colleges and universities. so that‘s one point, and then there is another point that right from the beginning, the british side was not ready to negotiate any kind of cooperation on such important issues like foreign affairs, defence, external security will stop this might be something we should have to talk with each other in the next year, because i believe that this agreement, a historic agreement is also the basis to build agreement is also the basis to build a new partnership with our political partners, neighbours and loyal allies in the united kingdom. 0k, david mcallister, member of european parliament, thank you very much.

barrister from an international law firm, a former uk government lawyer and senior adviser in the department for exiting the eu formerly, and can deal —— speak with a great deal of authority on what has emerged today. ijust wonder what authority on what has emerged today. i just wonder what you understand of theissue i just wonder what you understand of the issue around how this will be enforced, because that was one of the sticking points. it was indeed. imean, the sticking points. it was indeed. i mean, obviously, we haven't seen the deal yet, so we don't know the detail, but one of the issues was, of course, quarterjustice jurisdiction, that was an absolute redline i think from the uk's site, and it looks as if the uk has achieved its objective and that, so the court ofjustice will no longer have jurisdiction over the uk, instead, in order to police this deal, if i can put it that way, we are likely to have a different mechanism, probably some joint committee, a little bit like we have got in the withdrawal agreement, so a panel of experts, potentially brought into adjudicate on

differences between the parties in terms of this deal and how it's conducted. of course, the deal has been agreed at the leadership level, but i suppose strictly speaking, it has to be ratified by the parliament in the uk and the 27 eu member states. what happens next on that front7 states. what happens next on that front? so, we are very close, obviously, to the end of the transition period, only a few days left, the european parliament this week said if we don't get a deal, it was last sunday, actually, there's not going to be time for us to look at it, so what's happening now is something called provisional application, which is essentially that you allow the deal to proceed to come into force and do all the ratification afterwards. so that's what's going to be happening, essentially on the eu side. that will take some time, but i doubt that's going to be a sticking point. i think everyone recognises that

this is a welcome step and on the uk site, we know that parliament is going to be recalled for a very short period of time to scrutinise this, but the deal itself but also crucially the domestic legislation which is going to implement these 2000 pages of text. so very very little time for parliament to look at this. normally, with a treaty like this and the implementing domestic legislation parliament would have weeks to look at it, but it's going to be a day, i think, is what we have heard. 0k, international lawyer from field fisher, thank you very much. thank you. well, we can speak to alastair campbell, labour‘s former director of communications at number 10 under tony blair. kier starmer, leader of the opposition has said that he and his party will support this deal when it comes to a vote. do you agree with him7 comes to a vote. do you agree with him? no, i don't. i really don't think that the labour party should co—owner this deal. it‘s going to go

through. it will go through with conservative votes, even if some of their real extremists on the brexit agenda decide they can‘t support it. and i really think that boris johnson should be made —— should be made to own it. he‘s going to get some nice headlines on the papers for the next air to come up within the country will have to deal with what the reality of what we have now done witches make ourselves make ourselves weaker in the world. it‘s to create considerable extra burdens on business. yes, quota free cometary free, but totally contrary to what borisjohnson said in his press c0 nfe re nce to what borisjohnson said in his press conference “— to what borisjohnson said in his press conference —— press conference. so many other aspects of oui’ conference. so many other aspects of our national life are going to change. and i think it‘s interesting, your interview with the lawyer there, i remember being a journalist at the time of the treaty, and i come you know, the tiniest line and the tiniest proposal, than those mps who have

fought hardest for brexit, they were the first to say that this has to get proper parliamentary scrutiny, andi get proper parliamentary scrutiny, and i think that if labour were to say, frankly, without even having time to go through the detail about as none of us have that they are likely to back it. i think they will regret it. is there an of pragmatism, in an ideal world, they would‘ve seen the detail and scrutinised and so on, but with faced with the alternative which is if they would‘ve contributed to the deal not succeeding, higher prices in the shops, more delays of the port on top of what‘s already happening. with that be even worse for people in the uk and potentially colleagues in europe than to back the deal however imperfect7 in europe than to back the deal however imperfect? well, look, i accept it‘s imperfect, except it‘s far better than no—deal, and i except that if no—deal was the consequence of labour not supporting this, that i can see that‘s a much tougher proposition. but it‘s not, the deal will get through on conservative votes. therefore, i

think it‘s far better, if they put them self in a position, it was put very welcome he set up stain and explain. explain why it‘s a bad deal for britain. explain why it can be the basis for a different policy which labour benda develops, what is going to happen now i fear is that as things go wrong, which, you know, i hope they don‘t, but i believe they will and friendly because i don‘t think it‘s that great a deal for us, andi don‘t think it‘s that great a deal for us, and i do think that there are all sorts of threads attached to it that will unravel to our disadvantage. when that happens in the labour party says, look, what will you do about this, boris johnson can be consumed doing enough, he said that you voted for it. . enough, he said that you voted for it..| enough, he said that you voted for it. . ithink enough, he said that you voted for it. . i think there is a sense where, i get that they don‘t want to be abstaining is never a great option, but i don‘t think they should necessarily vote against what‘s happened because i think that would be a mistake as well. but i don‘t think they should vote for it. ido

don‘t think they should vote for it. i do accept it‘s a difficult arguments, but i really don‘t think they should do this. and in terms of next steps, if you are involved in all of us, what would your focus be in terms of discussions and deals going forward. what should the real attention he? going forward. what should the real attention be? for government or opposition7 attention be? for government or opposition? for the government. the government, i think i‘m you know, one of the few things that have been agreed where that covid remains a massive challenge for the country and they have got to get through that. but i think in terms of brexit, look, it depends on what their agenda is. i can‘t really give any advice to the government, because they don‘t really understand what the big agenda is. i‘ve always worried that the reason why the rights of the conservative party are being so, you know, heavy and the campaignfor being so, you know, heavy and the campaign for brexit, and, you know, back to and have ever since been trying to get us out, it was a minority sport which has now happened —— minority support. you have got to give them some credit for that, the recognition of the incredible thing that they have

done, but i have often thought that it‘s actually been about a far bigger political agenda. 0k. it‘s actually been about a far bigger political agenda. ok. you make it‘s about making britain low tax. i must say goodbye to our viewers on bbc world news. . we can continue on the news channel. i didn‘t not want to really say goodbye to them. the point i am trying to make is that i have always worried that there is a sort of, you know, hidden agenda here, which is contrary to the leveling up agenda that they talked about in the last election. it's talked about in the last election. it‘s to take this country in a very significant difference economic direction that i would define is taking its far to the rights way further than margaret thatcher would‘ve done. so if that‘s the agenda, my advice would be not to do it. also, i do think, even though that boris johnson it. also, i do think, even though that borisjohnson was trying to be reasonably multi ends today with the europeans, he is desperate because he knows actually this is going to

make us weaker and poorer. he‘s desperate to sell this as a great success story. he will get that and the right wing papers will bang that drum, but then, you know, the real brexit experts, they will go over this without fine tooth comb and he is worried about them, and rightly worried about the public reaction. i think businesses will be breathing a massive sigh of relief that there is a deal, but the deal that we have god is still going to do them an awful lot of damage. so his idea that this is just, awful lot of damage. so his idea that this isjust, you know, brexit brexit will be with us defining our politics for the next two years. let‘s step back from the detail of it, we heard from a german mepjust a few minutes ago saying that what the uk has managed to achieve is preferential tariff free access to the biggest single market in the world. actually, when you look at what the negotiators have agreed on, within relatively short periods of time, there is an of them having

sort of overcome what looked like insurmountable hurdles at one point. well, they had to get a deal, because the only other option was no—deal, and that was the kind of chaos, i think neither side ultimately was prepared to counter. i recognise that i would much rather have this deal then have had that‘s chaos. but equally, i think it‘s important, and i thought david mcallister, heard his interview, i thought he made another very important point, erasmus is an indication of a direction of travel thatis indication of a direction of travel that is frankly culturally and educational vandalism. this makes us a much less powerful country as well. we are now, a lot of our power ina well. we are now, a lot of our power in a world where china‘s superpower, america is a superpower, where the european union is the only other power that gets anywhere close, a lot of our power came through that. and we have sadly but willingly given that away. i think that

something, again, we will regret in future. alastair campbell, farmer direct therefore labour. time now for the weather. we are in for a cold and crisp christmas. that‘s pretty much a guarantee. in fact, for england, it could be the coldest christmas day in ten years. we just have a small window of calm and clear weather with a frost developing overnight. in fact, weather with a frost developing overnight. infact, early weather with a frost developing overnight. in fact, early on christmas day morning, temperatures could be as low as minus six degrees, for example, intervening when in some parts of scotland and i frustrate down to the south coast. the frost not quite so harsh they are in northern ireland. that‘s because an atlantic breeze will be setting in during the day on christmas day, and the weather will turn here eventually come about for the vast majority of the country, it isa the vast majority of the country, it is a bright or sunny crisp christmas with temperatures of around 11—5 c. a little bit milder closer to the coast. but after that, little bit milder closer to the coast. but afterthat, it little bit milder closer to the coast. but after that, it is all change. in fact,

coast. but after that, it is all change. infact, on coast. but after that, it is all change. in fact, on boxing day, expecting storms, particularly boxing day night, and the met office hasissued boxing day night, and the met office has issued an amber warning for damaging winds, particularly in the south. across european capitals to this deal that was agreed at1.1m. across european capitals to this deal that was agreed at 1.44. we are back with more on the bbc in just a moment or two. fine weather and the clear skies are going to lead to a widespread frost right across the country. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. this is bbc news. the top storyings. the european union and yuck have reached a post—brexit trade deal. both —— uk. both sides described it as a successful. it was a long and winding road but we have got a good deal to show for it. it is fair, it is a balanced deal. and it is the right and responsible thing to do for both sides. lam very thing to do for both sides. i am very pleased to tell you this afternoon, that we have completed the biggest trade deal yet, worth £660 billion a year, a comprehensive ca nada — style £660 billion a year, a comprehensive ca nada—style free £660 billion a year, a comprehensive canada—style free trade deal between the uk and the eu. the eu's chief

negotiator michel barnier said