We've reported on free trade talks over many months here on the day, but now the end could be in sight, and it's not looking very good.

There are just days remaining for London and Brussels to come to some sort of agreement.

Now we know deadlines have been broken before in this Brexit saga, but striking a deal is still nowhere in sight.

Ireland's foreign minister saying no deal could very well be the final result.

We have, um, a little more than 40 days left to the first of January when everything changes on.

Of course, it takes weeks to ratify an agreement of this scale.

Eso That is why I think everybody is now pointing to this week certainly the next 10 days, a za period where we really must find a way forward.

Otherwise, I think we have to start preparing in a very intensive way for a no trade deal, Brexit, which is the last thing we need in the context of covert as well.

All right, our resident Brexit analyst Alex Forrest widening joins me here in the big table.

Now it's good to see you again, Alex.

So let let's talk about what we just heard there from Simon Coveney.

Really?

He's spelling it out.

Forced little time left to strike a deal.

So what's the holdup?

Where there are some main sticking points and the 1st 1st 1 is the whole issue off fish and fisheries.

Because the UK wants to take back control off UK waters now, this is not an economic reason, because this is worth about not point, not 4% off the British economy of decline.

This is purely political.

This is about sovereignty on this is what Boris Johnson needs to prove to the Brexiteers that he could do for them.

A second reason is to do with the so called level playing field.

Ah, Europe does not want to have a big rival on its doorstep.

It wants to make sure that the UK is not going to end up subsidizing companies and therefore become a threat.

But the UK saying, Look, we need to be able to set our own rules on.

Then there is the age old problem with Ireland.

Northern Ireland, of course, stays with the UK, the Republic of Ireland with the you.

The aim is to keep the border between the two open.

But although in agreement has been made with the U.

K and the U in this withdrawal agreement, we currently have the British government legislating toe.

Undo that.

Now that is breaking down trust.

So you've got all of this going on, and at the same time you've got the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, and I'm not going.

I'm not making this up.

This is true.

He is self isolating in his flat in Downing Street a second time this year because of the Corona virus.

Take a listen.

I've got to self isolate because somebody I was in contact with a few days ago has developed co vid on bond.

It doesn't matter that we were all doing social distancing.

It doesn't matter that I'm fit as butcher's dog.

Feel great so many people do in my circumstances, actually doesn't matter that I've had the disease and I'm bursting with antibodies.

We've got to interrupt thes spread of the disease.

He's bursting with antibodies.

I mean, that's Boris Johnson for you right there.

I mean, this is not good timing for him, and we don't wanna laugh at him.

But it's not great timing for the prime minister, is it?

No, it's not great timing.

As you say.

It's the second time he's had to self isolate the first time.

Of course, he actually got co vid 19 and ended up in intensive care in hospital.

Was very, very ill, obviously very close.

I mean, really, the clock is so close to the end of these Brexit negotiations, and he's holed up in a flat in Downing Street on.

Of course, this was supposed to be his big reset.

There have bean these complete, extraordinary shenanigans going on in Downing Street over the past few days, pitting the ultra ultra brexiteers against the Brexiteers who aren't quite so ultra, including his own fiance.

So what we have seen is the man who has bean at the side of Boris Johnson since 2016.

Dominic Cummings publicly water walking out off number 10, Downing Street, carrying a box on leaving.

And just before that, we had had the director of communications doing the same thing.

So this was Boris Johnson.

Obviously he decided with them in the past now saying, Hey, boys, I'm backing control I'm the nice guy.

Trust me.

Anti content.

So we've got these key Brexiteers out of Downing Street.

You have met and interviewed many of them, including said Mr Cummings and I understand that was not a very pleasant encounter, was it?

No, it wasn't.

I wasn't interviewing him.

I was interviewing his then boss.

Another Brexit here.

Michael, Go.

Michael Gove didn't like the questions.

He walked off.

Three men appeared at my side.

Two of them.

I knew one of them.

I didn't.

It was Dominic Cummings who swore at me, using the F word on calling me various things.

But I'm not alone.

It turns out that many, many people have experienced this not just journalists, but even conservative MPs.

And I think many had had enough said to Boris Johnson, He's got to go.

And finally he decided, Yes, he's off, especially considering he's not a member of the Conservative Party.

Could the UK be closer to securing this elusive Brexit deal with the You mean the clock is ticking?

Well, something now that because Dominic Cummings and others have gone yes, plus with Joe Biden in the White House in just a couple of months time.

Things could be looking good for that.

But what does Boris Johnson want?

And we still don't know the answer to that.

He must know that business is going to suffer.

The economy will suffer if there is not a deal secured with you.

On the other hand, he's got to keep those brexiteers happy.

He now has time isolating in Downing Street toe make up his mind.

Yeah, plenty of time to think about what he's done and what he may or may not do.

Alex Forrest writing our Brexit analyst with the inside story.

Thank you, Alex.

It was Alex, said one of the sticking points mentioned.

Fishing quotas.

The question is, how much access will you fishing boats have to British waters next year?

London wants full control over its territorial waters.

High drama on the high seas, VW's Georg Motta's and Barbara Vase, a report now from a seaside village in France, where Brexit has residents bracing for some choppy waters.

Fresh fish from the English Channel Jean Pierre Psagot unloads his latest catch in Bologna soon Mayor.

His son Sebastian, has been pitching in since he was a teenager.

The Tiger three is a family fishing business in its third generation.

It was grandfather Psagot who began fishing in UK waters.

I'm the owner on.

I'm waiting for my son to take over.

E built this for him.

We've been working here for 47 years on.

In the end, it's all for him.

But if Brexit turns out the way they expect, it will become complicated because there are already too many boats fishing in the channel.

Bologna is home to France's biggest fishing port.

French fishermen catch more than €200 million worth of fish in British waters each year, 10 times more than the UK site pulls out of the waters.

The French would like to keep bringing home red mullet like these caught on the U.

K site off the channel.

Despite Brexit, everything will grind to a halt here, but maybe we can still salvage something.

I don't think it will be a death sentence for Bologna, but it would be a catastrophe for our lives.

For everyone here, there are no walls in the sea.

Fishermen like Olivia lip read her stress.

Many species are born in French waters and move to British sees.

Once they've matured For centuries, the two countries have been sharing their fish in their waters.

Hard to imagine that this could suddenly come to an end.

The separation line in the channel runs right here.

A papaya.

If there is no deal, the French fishing boats on the European fishing boats will lose this entire zone on.

We will all meet in this small area.

Belgian boats, the Dutch on the French.

So we will then systematically over fish on.

This will quickly lead to bankruptcy.

A court.

Um that also holds true for bigger boats, the cap.

Nor is unloading Pollock caught off the coast off Scotland.

Some of these fish will be sold back to the UK.

Meanwhile, British fishermen sell around 70% off their catch to the Europeans.

It's a matter off taste.

What they don't like.

They sell to the French who are crazy about UK court.

See Spider Place and Dover Sole.

We trust the British on both sides.

We have to save jobs and find a solution so we can both survive.

They have the fish, we have the markets.

We have the internal market with a few 100 million consumers.

Should we put all this into question.

We've managed to work together for decades and decades in Bologna.

Issue mayor.

5000 jobs depend on the fishing industry.

If there is no Brexit free trade deal, the town's future is at stake, and small operations like Jean Pierre's would be fighting for survival.

After a quick break in the harbor, he's heading back out into the channel.

UK waters are only 40 minutes away, but politically, Britain and the U remain oceans apart.