Brexit secretary makes surprise trip to Brussels for crunch talks with Michel Barnier

Meeting comes ahead of major Brexit summit

Britain’s Brexit minister has made a surprise trip to Brussels to hold talks with the European Union‘s chief Brexit negotiator.

Dominic Raab will meet with Michel Barnier later on Sunday, a spokesman for the Department for Exiting the European Union said.

“With several big issues still to resolve, including the Northern Ireland backstop, it was jointly agreed that face-to-face talks were necessary ahead of this week’s October European Council,” they added.

The announcement of Mr Raab and Mr Barnier’s talks is likely to fuel speculation that a deal may be close.

Ambassadors for the 27 member states of the EU have also been summoned to a meeting on Brexit in Brussels on Sunday, diplomatic sources told Reuters.

The meeting will involve representatives for the EU’s member states excluding Britain.

Theresa May will head to Brussels on Wednesday for a summit in which both sides want to sign off on a draft withdrawal agreement to set out the terms of Britain’s divorce from the EU.

The issue of the Northern Irish backstop – a mechanism to avoid a hard border – is at the heart of the troubles facing Ms May’s leadership.

The EU’s version of the backstop, which would see just Northern Ireland remain aligned with Brussels’ rules, has been called unacceptable by Ms May and is loathed by her DUP allies.

Ms May’s counter-proposal is for a “temporary customs arrangement” for the whole of the UK, but Tory Brexiteers fear this could become an open-ended position which would prevent free trade deals with countries around the world.

It comes after the former Brexit secretary, David Davis, urged a Cabinet revolt against the prime minister’s Brexit strategy.

Matt Hancock, the health secretary, sought to play down speculation that some of his colleagues might quit over the Brexit plans, but was unable to say whether a fixed deadline for any customs arrangement would be written into a deal with Brussels.

The Conservative MP told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show: “There are different ways that you can make sure that something is credibly time limited and that’s what I want to see.”

The Tory party’s vice chairman, James Cleverly, told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge on Sunday that Cabinet ministers should use their position to influence Brexit policy rather than resign.

“They should use that position to put their ideas forward, I would suggest that’s a much more constructive and helpful way of influencing the direction of the negotiations with the EU,” he said.

Ms May’s Brexit plan has also been questioned by some opposition Labour Party MPs, further dimming the prime minister’s hopes of winning parliamentary backing for any Brexit deal she reaches with EU officials.