Boris Johnson risks Brexiteer fury with customs union hint, after EU gives green light to secret negotiations
Donald Tusk concedes there are ‘promising signals’ on reaching a deal
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Your support makes all the difference.Brexit negotiations will now enter the “tunnel” phase of intensive and secretive talks in a boost for Boris Johnson’s prospects of brokering a fresh deal.
Stephen Barclay, the Brexit secretary, held what he called a “constructive” meeting with the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier in Brussels, raising hopes of a breakthrough on a withdrawal deal.
As the EU27 ambassadors approved talks moving into the “tunnel” phase, EU Council president Donald Tusk said the UK had still not delivered anything workable, but conceded there were “promising signals”.
Mr Johnson hinted at a major concession to rescue a deal by refusing to rule out Northern Ireland staying in the EU’s customs union.
It came as details of private Tory polling emerged showing Mr Johnson cannot get a Commons majority unless he delivers Brexit by 31 October.
Many MPs believe that, if he cannot get a deal, Mr Johnson will use an emergency Saturday sitting of Parliament on October 19 to push for a “people versus Parliament” general election as early as next month.
But if a deal is forthcoming he would need the backing of the DUP and hardline Brexit-backing Tories to give it any chance of getting it through without opposition support.
See below for what was our live coverage.
The UK side also calling the meeting between Stephen Barclay and Michel Barnier “constructive”, according to our Europe correspondent Jon Stone.
So are we heading for the “tunnel” or not? Leo Varadkar suggests it’s not unlikely. If that makes sense.
“I think at this stage probably the less said the better,” Varadkar said, speaking to reporters in Dublin on Friday morning.
“The focus today very much switches to Brussels where Secretary Barclay is going to meet with Michel Barnier and I’d anticipate that will lead to some more detailed proposals being made, and the possible talks to enter the proverbial tunnel, but that’s kind of where things stand today.”
I think it’s fair to say the speculation about a possible breakthrough has been stronger on the Irish side than on the British one.
UK government sources have been playing it down.
One official has told PoliticsHome website: “This morning’s newspaper coverage felt a little too optimistic. There is a very long way to go.”
Alistair Campbell has been tweeting about his GQ interview with shadow chancellor John McDonnell, and appears to have something of a scoop.
Campbell says McDonnell told him both he and Jeremy Corbyn would stand down if Labour is defeated at the next election – and claimed the party’s next leader needed to be a woman.
Into “the tunnel” they go! Possibly…
According to The Guardian’s Brussels bureau chief, Michel Barnier has told the E27 group about his constructive meeting with Stephen Barclay, and the group has granted permission for intense negotiations to begin.
Well then. British and EU negotiators have now agreed to intensify Brexit talks on Friday, in a major boost for Boris Johnson’s hopes of getting a deal.
Here’s our Europe editor Jon Stone with more on the talks moving into the “tunnel” of more intense and secretive negotiations.
So is “the tunnel” of negotiations going to be called “the tunnel”? Or is it something less than tunnel? More of an underpass? An overpass? A walkway under an atrium?
Here's the confirmation: the EU and UK will "intensify" Brexit discussions in the coming days after a "constructive" meeting between Michel Barnier and Steve Barclay, a European Commission spokesperson says.
The spokesperson said:
"Michel Barnier, the European Commission's chief negotiator, had a constructive meeting this morning with Steve Barclay, the UK Secretary of State of Exiting the EU.
This afternoon, Michel Barnier debriefed the EU27 ambassadors. He will shortly inform the European Parliament's Brexit Steering Group.
The EU and UK have agreed to intensify discussions over the coming days.The EU's position remains the same: there must be a legally operative solution in the withdrawal agreement that avoids a hard border on the island of Ireland, protects the all-island economy and the Good Friday (Belfast) Agreement in all its dimensions, and safeguards the integrity of the single market.
The Commission will take stock with the European Parliament and member states again on Monday in view of preparing the General Affairs Council (Article 50)."
Here are the full quotes from John McDonnell, who has said Jeremy Corbyn would most likely stand down if Labour lost a general election.
Asked whether Corbyn could carry on after a defeat, the shadow chancellor told former Labour adviser Alastair Campbell in an interview for GQ magazine:
"I can't see... I think it is the same for my own personal position, I can't see so.
"What we'd do is as the tradition, which is have an election for a new leader."
He also said the next Labour leader should be a woman, citing Angela Rayner, the shadow education secretary, as a possible successor to Corbyn.
He said:
"I'm still of the view now that whoever comes after Jeremy has got to be a woman.
"We've got to have a woman leader. If you look at the new youngsters that have come through, they are fantastic."
"There is a whole range of women. Angela Rayner... There is a whole range of women and it's fantastic."
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