A British official has announced that the UK is ready to leave the European Union without a trade agreement.

Iran PressEurope: "The UK is ready to leave the European Union without a trade agreement or negotiations at a critical moment," said Penny Mordaunt, the public spending officer in the Boris Johnson administration.

"Some progress has been made in the negotiations," Penny Mordaunt said, but there are still differences over equal opportunities, she added.

The United Kingdom formally withdrew from the European Union on 31 January 2020, but will retain its key criteria for membership in the transition period, which is set to expire on 31 December 2020.

Relations between the United Kingdom and the European Union will be in transition for a year, during which time the two sides will have the opportunity to agree on post-election relations.

So far, two factors, government aid and the fishing quota that enable the European Union to fish in British waters, have hampered the negotiations. 219