Here’s some EU supporters making their position known outside trade talks today:

Strong message from the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive:

Brexit trade talks have been paused after negotiators in London and Brussels failed to reach an agreement, insisting that “significant divergences” still remain.

Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, will discuss the “state of play” in a telephone call on Saturday with just weeks remaining until the end of the transition period.

Ashley Cowburn and Jon Stone report:

Here’s what the UK’s chief negotiator said, in an almost identical statement to Michel Barnier’s:

Announcing a pause in Brexit talks, Michel Barnier said “significant divergences” remained in three areas which have been the main sticking points for months.

Here’s a quick look at them: 

The EU wants to continue to maximise access to UK waters for its fishing fleets after 31 December.

The British argue the UK is now an independent coastal state and should be able to prioritise its own boats.

However, most fish caught by UK fishermen are sold in Europe and Britain needs to maintain access to EU markets.

The so-called “level playing field” rules are intended to ensure businesses on one side do not gain an unfair advantage over those on the other side.

In return for continuing access to the single market, the EU is seeking a high degree of alignment by the UK with its standards on workers rights, the environment and particularly state aid for businesses.

The British deny they want to undercut EU measures, but say the point of leaving is for the UK to be able to set its own standards.

The two sides are still at odds over the mechanisms for enforcing any agreement and resolving disputes.

The British have been adamant that the UK is an independent sovereign state and cannot accept the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice.

Additional reporting by PA

Michel Barnier has said he and Lord Frost agreed to “pause” Brexit talks while they brief their respective teams on the status of the trade deal negotiations.

Mr Barnier said that after a week of “intense negotiations” in London, he and Lord Frost had agreed “the conditions for an agreement are not met, due to significant divergences on level playing field, governance and fisheries”.

“We agreed to pause the talks in order to brief our principals on the state of play of the negotiations,” he tweeted. “President vonderleyen and Prime Minister Johnson will discuss the state of play tomorrow afternoon.”

Mr Martin said the shock a no-deal Brexit would bring would be the “last thing” citizens need.

“I have faith and trust in the EU negotiating team, in Michel Barnier and in president Ursula von der Leyen of the (European) Commission.

“There have been some countries putting pressure on wanting to seek additional information – 27 states can’t negotiate collectively.

“We’ve got to allow them (the negotiating teams) the space to conclude their talks and hopefully achieve an agreement out of this.”

Irish premier Micheal Martin said he “fervently” hopes there will be a trade deal reached between the UK and EU.

He added: “There has been intensive talks under way and ongoing between the United Kingdom government’s negotiating team and the EU’s negotiating team, and that is continuing.

“My understanding and sense is that will continue over the weekend and there will be further engagement.

“I fervently hope there will be a deal. I think a deal is in the best interests of the United Kingdom, it’s in the best interests of the island of Ireland, it’s in the best interests of the EU.

“Particularly in the people we represent, workers, businesses, people involved in education across the broad. We need to give people certainty about the future.”

After business secretary Alok Sharma today admitted Brexit discussions have run into a “difficult phase” due to some “tricky issues”, my colleague Joe Sommerlad has taken a look at what the odds are of Britain leaving the EU without a trade agreement in this piece:

Ministers have been accused of making “wildly inappropriate comments” about the “brilliance” of Britain in approving the first Covid-19 that risk adding to vaccine hesitancy among the public.

Independent Sage also criticised the government for “snatching chaos from the jaws of sanity” with distracting rows over erroneous claims that Brexit allowed for UK regulators to approve the Pfizer/BionNTech vaccine more rapidly.

In a briefing on Friday, the group – set up to shadow the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) – urged for greater transparency and a public health campaign from the government to combat “vaccine hesitancy” and questions over the rollout.

Our political correspondent, Ashley Cowburn, has the full story: