All eyes are on Boris as Brexit deal takes shape

brussels — British and EU officials were on the verge of a last-minute Brexit deal on Wednesday but Prime Minister Boris Johnson still has work to do at home to ensure parliament approves the plan.

“The basic foundations of this agreement are ready and theoretically we could accept a deal tomorrow,” said European Council president Donald Tusk, who will chair a summit of leaders, including Johnson, on Thursday and Friday. However, Tusk said in comments broadcast by Polish broadcaster TVN 24 that “certain doubts have appeared from the British side”, apparently a reference to Johnson’s need to win over politicians who fear he may have conceded too much.

French President Emmanuel Macron said an agreement was being finalised and he hoped it could be approved by the summit on Thursday. “I want to believe an agreement is being finalised and that we will be able to endorse it tomorrow,” Macron said.

brussels — EU Council President Donald Tusk said on Wednesday that the basic foundations of an agreement on Brexit were ready and that it could materialise within hours.

British and European negotiators ploughed on with Brexit talks on Wednesday hoping that at least an outline deal can be found in time for the European summit.

European leaders will head to Brussels on Thursday hoping to decide whether to give the go-ahead to officials to draw up a final withdrawal treaty. But first, EU negotiator Michel Barnier and European diplomats want to know if Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson can sell the draft deal at home.

“The basic foundations of an agreement are ready and in theory tomorrow we could accept this deal with Great Britain and avoid the chaos and the misfortune linked to an uncontrolled, chaotic exit,” Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, said on Poland’s TVN24 news.

“Theoretically, in seven or eight hours everything should

be clear,” summit host Tusk added as negotiators prepared for a second gruelling late night shift at the Brussels conference table. In London, Johnson met his sceptical Northern Irish allies the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) for the third time in three days to try to shore up support for a compromise deal.

The DUP will find it hard to accept a reported offer to allow Northern Ireland to stick to EU customs rules after Brexit, which the EU wants to see to avoid the return of a hard border on the island of Ireland. But DUP leader Arlene Foster scoffed at “nonsense” reports that she is ready to give way. “Discussions continue. Needs to be a sensible deal which unionists and nationalists can support,” she tweeted.

Brexit minister Steve Barclay described the closeddoor meetings in Brussels as “intensive” and confirmed Britain would ask for another Brexit extension if there is no deal by Saturday.

Irish leader Leo Varadkar, meanwhile, warned that “many issues remained to be resolved” and suggested that a more realistic target was “an agreement by the end of this month”.

Briefing European commissioners, Barnier confirmed that “ongoing talks have been constructive but there still remains a number of significant issues to resolve.”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday told senior ministers a “good” Brexit deal was still on the table but further talks were required to cement an agreement.

Ministers were told there was “a chance of securing a good deal but we are not there yet” because there were “a number of outstanding matters”, he added.

The basic foundations of an agreement are ready and theoretically tomorrow we could accept this deal with Great Britain” Donald Tusk, EU Council President

The 31st of October is still a few weeks away and there is the possibility of an additional summit before that” Leo Varadkar, Irish Prime Minister