Mr. Johnson told reporters that he hoped Germany and France will compromise after the UK’s parliament has three times rejected the Withdrawal Agreement.

The same day, Britain said it would end EU freedom of movement rules immediately after it leaves the bloc. A spokesperson for the UK government said further details on the changes to freedom of movement were being worked on and would be set out shortly, but would include tougher criminality checks.

The European Commission said that the EU was ready for a no-deal Brexit and that Britain would suffer most under such a scenario. Speaking at a regular daily briefing, Commission spokeswoman Natasha Bertaud said a no-deal UK exit would never be the EU's preferred scenario, adding this will obviously cause significant disruption both for citizens and for businesses, and this will have a serious negative economic impact.