The European Parliament ‘stands ready’ to convene an emergency session before the end of the year if the United Kingdom and the European Union can strike a deal by midnight Sunday.

In a statement, bosses said if a deal was struck by “midnight on Sunday 21December” and though this is not in fact the date – it is Sunday 20 – it is believed the document is referring to the end of the weekend.

The body, which will need to grant consent to any future trade deal, released a statement this lunchtime welcoming efforts “to avoid a no deal scenario” which it says would have a “huge negative impact… on citizens and businesses.”

Talks are ongoing over the future relationship but many watchers seem to think the odds are moving towards a deal being struck in the coming days.

A Parliamentary session would take place “towards the end of December” if a deal is struck this weekend.

The Parliament has also demanded that the European Commission provide it with a full report into the UK’s implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement, which has become a bone of contention in recent days.

The UK Parliament will also have to be convened in some form, either digitally or physically, to ratify any deal before the transition period expires at 11pm GMT on New Year’s Eve.

Earlier today, Chancellor Rishi Sunak suggested that the worst of any Brexit turbulence could be mitigated via the use of existing Covid support schemes, including the furlough scheme.