Boris Johnson news - live: Leo Varadkar says Brexit talks making progress but gap between two sides 'still quite wide' as deadline looms
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Leo Varadkar has announced that Brexit talks are "making progress" but that the gap between the UK and EU is "still quite wide".
Negotiators are racing to conclude an agreement in time for a key EU summit on Thursday, but the Finnish prime minister warned on Tuesday that there was no "practical or legal way" to strike a deal by then. That was rejected by No10, although Boris Johnson's spokesman refused to put a deadline on talks reaching a conclusion.
Earlier, the EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, reportedly told EU27 ministers in Luxembourg that the latest UK proposals were “not yet good enough”. Barnier is said to have told ministers an agreement would have to be reached by the end of Tuesday.
It comes as Emmanuel Macron is said to have raised the possibility of a “technical extension” in a call with the PM. British negotiators, meanwhile, have put forward new proposals in bid to break the deadlock with the European Commission.
Brexit secretary Stephen Barclay has arrived for talks in Luxembourg – so it looks as though the meeting of EU27 ministers will become the EU28 again for a brief time today.
“The talks are ongoing. We need to give them space to proceed,” Barclay told reporters.
“But detailed conversations are under way and a deal is still very possible.”
The Dutch foreign affairs minister Stef Blok did not sound as optimistic as others as he arrived for the EU27 meeting in Luxembourg this morning.
There are just five days to go until the last major demonstration in favour of a second referendum. Hundreds of thousands are expected to march on the streets of London on Saturday 19 October to demand a Final Say vote on the terms of any deal secured by Boris Johnson.
The People’s Vote campaign has smashed its target of raising half a million pounds and more than 170 coaches have been hired to transport people to London.
All the details here.
BREAKING: The EU’s Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has told the 27 member states staying in the bloc after Brexit that the latest UK proposals were not yet good enough, three diplomatic sources have told Reuters.
Barnier also said he needed a legal text agreed by the end of Tuesday to recommend that a summit of EU leaders on Thursday and Friday approves any deal, the sources also said.
Otherwise, he would likely recommend that more talks with Britain are needed past the summit later this week, the sources added.
Former cabinet minister David Gauke, who was stripped of the Tory whip for rebelling over no-deal, said that a delay beyond the 31 October Brexit deadline may be needed to ensure that parliament has the time to scrutinise any deal brought back from Brussels.
Echoing comments made earlier by Jeremy Hunt, Gauke told Sky News: “If he has got a deal he has brought back, I would be supportive … (but) I wouldn’t want us to be in a position where we vote for a deal on Saturday and then something goes wrong in the next 12 days and then we crash out without a deal on 31 October. We need to make sure we are not in that position.
“I am not wanting a delay for the sake of a delay. I want to make sure that we get all the legislation through before we leave the EU.”
Gauke warned that the focus on Northern Ireland should not divert attention from the danger that an eventual deal might be bad for England, Scotland and Wales.
“What I don’t want is for us to be in a position where we get a deal which addresses the issue in Northern Ireland, which has been the thing holding up a deal being reached, and then we find ourselves in the position that Great Britain - England, Scotland and Wales - are left with a relationship that looks very much like no-deal,” he said.
“Parliament will need to be reassured that we are not left with something that is a deal in name only.”
More on that deadline set by EU negotiator Michel Barnier – who told EU27 ministers an agreement over legal text would have to be reached by the end of Tuesday.
“There is a deadline today evening to agree on legal text,” one senior EU diplomat told Reuters.
Another told the agency there was no formal deadline, but that Barnier explained to the room he needed agreement on the legal text by the end of the day to be able to tell EU diplomats due to meet in Brussels on Wednesday that his recommendation was that the Thursday-Friday leaders’ summit approves a deal.
“The work continues, there is still a possibility for a deal,” a third EU diplomat said.
According to the BBC’s Adam Fleming, journalists are staring at Barnier like he’s “an exotic animal”, as he sits with his team in the canteen.
Michel Barnier, the EU chief negotiator whose every word and gesture is subject to intense scrutiny, has now tweeted about his meeting with the EU27 in Luxembourg.
Ireland’s deputy premier and foreign affairs minister Simon Coveney has been speaking to reporters following the EU27 meeting in Luxembourg.
He said a deal was “difficult but doable” and made a cryptic remark suggesting he sees the glass neither half full nor half empty.
More from the Irish deputy premier Simon Coveney, who has said it’s possible talks will continue into next week.
“If the deal can’t be done today or tomorrow in advance of the summit then the leaders will have to decide what kind of mandate to give Michel Barnier, and of course the UK will have to decide as well as to how to proceed,” he said.
“If there is to be a further meeting of EU leaders, that will be a matter for leaders themselves to decide at the summit, but at the moment there are no plans for an emergency summit at the end of next week.”
European Commission spokeswoman Mina Andreeva has also been speaking about the next steps forward.
She said: “Technical level discussions are continuing with the UK team today and actually as we speak. Talks are constructive but a lot of work remains to be done.”
On the issue of potential new proposals, she said: "I think it’s natural that discussions need to be prepared, but we will not be providing a running commentary on any documents being discussed.”
Asked if the two sides will continue to negotiate on Wednesday if a legal text is not brought forward by Tuesday night, Andreeva said: “We are working towards the European Council which is on Thursday, as you know, so in that respect every day and every hour counts.”
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