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Boris Johnson news - live: France rejects UK’s ‘artificial’ Brexit deadline, as PM mocked over emergency coronavirus meeting in three days' timeBy The Independent

Boris Johnson’s plan to walk away from talks with the EU by the end of June unless there is a “broad outline” of a Canada-style free trade deal has been met with dismay in Brussels. EU diplomats reportedly believe a “dramatic crisis” lies ahead this summer.

France’s Europe minister Amelie de Montchalin said the bloc would refuse to accept “artificial deadlines” in trade talks. “We do not accept time pressure,” Montchalin told an audience at Chatham House in London on Friday.

Mr Johnson will convene the government’s Cobra committee in response to a growing number of cases of the coronavirus – but has been ridiculed for scheduling an “emergency” meeting for Monday.