Reuters, citing The Times, reported that senior officials in British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's office see only a 30-40% chance that there will be an Brexit trade agreement with the European Union due to an impasse over state aid rules.

The Times said that Britain’s desire to use state aid to build up its technology sector means that Johnson's top ministers are unwilling to budge in negotiations on state aid.

"Senior officials now think there is only a 30 to 40 per cent chance that there will be an agreement," James Forsyth, political editor of The Spectator, wrote in a column. "The sticking point isn’t fish — I’m told that there is a 'deal to be done' there — but state aid."

The UK wants the percentage of fish quotas reserved for UK vessels in British waters to increase from some 25% now to more than 50%