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Simon Coveney told the BBC that "everyone needs a dose of reality" about the negotiations. “We need to be honest with people and say that we’re not close to that deal right now,” he said. Mr Coveney acknowledged that the "mood music" around Brexit talks had improved but said there was still a "wide gap" between what the UK has proposed and what the EU would accept.
The comments reversed a rally sparked last night by optimistic remarks made yesterday by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.
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The pound has added to the gains it made yesterday as hopes grow that a no-deal Brexit can be avoided. Sterling is up 0.33 per cent against the dollar this morning to $1.257 and up 0.17 per cent against the euro to €1.136.
RBS appoints Alison Rose as chief executive
RBS has confirmed the appointment of Alison Rose as chief executive. Ms Rose will become the first chief executive of a major British high street bank when she replaces outgoing boss Ross McEwan on 31 October.
RBS will also be the only FTSE 100 company with women in its top two positions. Katie Murray is the lender's chief financial officer.
Ms Rose, who is currently chief executive of RBS' commercial and private banking division, as well as deputy CEO of NatWest, had been widely tipped for the top job.
Thomas Cook in race to find £200m to stave off collapse
Thomas Cook is on the brink of administration after the tour operator's lenders demanded that it finds £200m in extra funding.
The company said it was in talks with stakeholders to secure the required funds, including Chinese firm Fosun which injected £450m last month.
The Independent's travel correspondent, Simon Calder, explains how people who have booked holidays with Thomas Cook might be affected:
Dover is 100 per cent ready for no-deal Brexit, says port chief executive
"The Port of Dover is 100 per cent ready" for a no-deal Brexit, according to the port's boss, Doug Bannister.
However, he told Bloomberg that he still has no clarity on the "rules of the game" such as what documents will be needed for freight consignments
Mr Bannister also conceded that he was anticipating disruption: "whether it’s a day, two days, a week, two weeks, a month, two months, nobody can really predict”.
Three Mobile customers will continue to pay a loyalty penalty
Citizens Advice says Three Mobile customers will continue to pay a loyalty penalty that collectively amounts to as much as £2.7m a month after the company.
Other major networks have committed to end the practice of continuing to charge customers for their handset when their minimum contract period ends and they have paid it off.
But Three has "refused" to follow suit, Citizens Advice said. This means loyal customers are being overcharged, the organisation said.
A Three spokesperson said: "The current proposals are not in customers' best interests. Applying an arbitrary discount to tariffs will not effectively tackle what really matters - helping them to find a contract which is both best-suited to their needs and priced fairly.
Offshore wind no longer needs subsidies after costs tumble
Renewable energy from new offshore wind farms will be cheaper to produce than the current market rate and no longer require any subsidy after cost tumbled 30 per cent in two years.
The government revealed that 12 new energy projects, including offshore wind farms will receive between £39.65 and £41.61 per megawatt hour.
Boris Johnson said: "The UK is leading the way in the fight against climate change, and it's great news that millions more homes will be powered by clean energy at record low prices.
"Seizing the opportunities of clean energy not only helps to protect our planet, but will also back businesses and boost jobs across the UK."
Google makes 'biggest corporate purchase' of energy
Google boss Sundar Pichai said the tech giant plans to make the “the biggest corporate purchase of renewable energy in history".
Included in the investment will be more than $2bn (£1.6bn) in energy infrastructure and 1,600-megawatts of wind and solar agreements.
“In all, our renewable energy fleet now stands at 52 projects, driving more than $7bn in new construction and thousands of related jobs,” Pichai said.
'Truly extraordinary'
The record low prices secured for new renewable energy projects are "truly extraordinary" says Simon Virley, UK head of energy and natural resources at KPMG.
"The government has secured almost 6GW of new renewables capacity, without spending any of the £65m budget allocated for this auction, due the record low clearing prices.
“Giant offshore wind projects will now be built in the North Sea effectively ‘subsidy free’. This raises the prospect of offshore wind contributing even more than previously envisaged to achieving the UK’s Net Zero emissions target by 2050.”
What are the options for Thomas Cook as it struggles to stay afloat?
Joanna Ford, partner at law firm Cripps Pemberton Greenish, says the proposed rescue deal would come at a cost. Existing shareholders would lose much of the value of their investment and control would shift to Thomas Cook's Chinese investor, Fosun, says Ms Ford.
This is a common and obvious option for companies that are struggling financially – turning to their existing stakeholders to put their hands in their pockets so their investments can hopefully be salvaged makes sound commercial sense.
Shareholders will inevitably want something additional in return, though, and this is usually in the form of shares that then dilute the value of the stake held by those shareholders who chose not to invest.
But if that doesn't work...
If the rescue deal fails to materialise then the options for Thomas Cook could include administration, an insolvency process where professionals are appointed to manage the company’s affairs.
In this scenario they would try to sell the whole, or parts of the business, leaving behind the company in administration, its shareholders and all the liabilities, which would then be paid (usually not in full) from the cash received from the sale.
Other options to businesses with cash flow difficulties include emergency borrowing, either from their own banks or specialist distressed lenders, but this is usually only a sticking plaster if the root cause of the difficulties are not addressed.
If the problems continue, then the cash deficit simply increases and the lenders stand to shoulder greater losses should the business ultimately collapse.
The banks are strong-arming Thomas Cook, says analyst
Alex Brignall, Travel and Leisure Analyst at City equities broker Redburn, comments:
“It feels like a bit of strong-arming by the banks to see the Fosun deal get sorted quickly, or for the situation to be resolved in another way, likely through disposals. Triton has remained very keen to buy the Nordic business, so that should be able to be done if the other solutions do not come through on time.
“The concerning thing is that September should be the best point of the year for the cash balance, so for banks to be demanding a cash top-up now suggests demand has taken a big hit from all the negative publicity and that the company is facing additional working capital stress.”
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