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.
Andrea Leadsom, the business secretary, has compared the way businesses are having to prepare for Brexit to getting ready for "bad weather".
If there is a no-deal Brexit, trading regulations could change overnight, with new permissions required for freight and additional paperwork on imports and exports needed.
"My advice to businesses has been to understand, each business for themselves, what they would need to do and by when at the latest they need to do it," she told MPs.
"In any business dealing with any circumstances, whether you're preparing for anticipated bad weather, a fiscal event that might change tax revenue, it is really incumbent on business to understand the sort of measures they may need to take."
Ms Leadsom admitted that "not enough" businesses were properly prepared for Britain's divorce from Brussels but blamed the Benn Act - which wants to delay Brexit until January in the event of no-deal - for hindering progress.
"Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to march through London for a major demonstration calling for a Final Say referendum on Brexit," writes Tom Parfitt.
"Organised by the People’s Vote campaign and supported by The Independent, the march will take place just two weeks before the UK is scheduled to leave the EU.
"Campaigners are calling on the government to call a Final Say vote on any Brexit agreement or no-deal outcome."
Read more about the rally here:
A meeting of hardline Brexiteer MPs has ended in Westminster.
BBC news reports that Conservative MPs in the European Research Group were told to trust the prime minister, as negotiations intensify.
While Westminster waits with baited breath for details of the talks to emerge, The Independent's political sketch writer Tom Peck has been considering what lies ahead for the UK.
"Whether the UK leaves the EU by Boris Johnson’s artificial deadline of 31 October only matters only if you are interested in the terrifying egos of Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings," he argues.
"But the clearest sign that the exit is nearing, be it on that day or by way of some kind of technical extension, came from Angela Merkel on Sunday.
“With the departure of Great Britain, a potential competitor will of course emerge for us,” she said. “That is to say, in addition to China and the United States of America, there will be Great Britain as well.”
Read more here:
According to The Telegraph Boris Johnson will address a mass meeting of Conservative backbenchers tomorrow evening.
The 1922 committee of backbenchers will meet at 7.30pm tomorrow, according to the newspaper.
The prime minister will meet with his cabinet at 4pm.
If you missed it earlier, the prime minister won his first Commons vote almost three months after taking office.
"Ahead of Tuesday's vote on environmental regulations, the prime minister had lost seven divisions in the chamber – more defeats than Tony Blair's entire decade at Number 10," reports political correspondent Ashley Cowburn.
"I realise this is a unique moment," the deputy speaker Dame Eleanor Laing teased, as it became clear Mr Johnson's government had won its first vote."
Read more here:
Britain's reputation on the world stage has suffered "real damage" because of the chaotic handling of Brexit, a former top diplomat has warned.
Lord Ricketts, who has previously served as ambassador to France and was the UK's first National Security Adviser, also levelled criticism at the rhetoric used by Downing Street in relation to leaving the EU.
"They are not our enemies, they are our allies, they are friends, they are our economic partners," he said of the EU.
"They are countries for whom generations of British soldiers have fought and died.
"We don't need to fabricate new enemies in the world. There are plenty of adversaries out there already."
Lord Ricketts added: "Whatever the final outcome, my conclusion is that Britain's reputation in the world has suffered real damage from the chaotic way that the whole Brexit issue has been handled."
He was speaking as peers debated the prime minister's Queen's Speech on Tuesday.
The DUP has said it is fair to say gaps remain and further work is required before a Brexit deal is agreed.
The party's comment emerged following talks in Downing Street between Boris Johnson and Arlene Foster, the DUP's leader.
It appears officials negotiating in Brussels have a long night ahead.
RTE reports that optimism remains but that negotiations will go down to the wire before the EU council summit on Thursday.
In case you missed it earlier, former Conservative cabinet ministers have hinted they will reject the UK's new Brexit plan.
"The proposals – even if they are turned into a deal with the EU – are unlikely to pass in the Commons without the backing of Tories who backed Theresa May’s doomed deal," reports Rob Merrick, our deputy political editor.
"But David Gauke, the former justice secretary, attacked the drift to a harder Brexit, with Mr Johnson now aiming for a Canada-style trade agreement instead of aligning with EU rules."
Read more here:
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