Now EU states urge Barnier to find a Brexit compromise

MICHEL Barnier was under mounting pressure to soften his stance on Brexit yesterday amid growing EU fears about the impact of no deal.

Portugal’s foreign minister Augusto Santos Silva broke ranks to warn Mr Barnier he should not hold out for a ‘perfect agreement’.

And diplomats from other EU nations also voiced concerns about the uncompromising stance of the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator.

Mr Santos Silva said: ‘Our top priority is to do all that we can to make sure that the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union is an agreed and orderly exit.

‘We’re not going to wait for a perfect agreement. No agreement is the worst option – any agreement is better than that.’

Another EU diplomat said Mr Barnier should drop his opposition to a UK-wide ‘backstop’ solution to the Northern Ireland problem, which could see the whole country stay in a customs union temporarily after Brexit.

‘There are legal issues, but we must be pragmatic, not dogmatic,’ the source said. The moves came amid mounting speculation that negotiators are closer to a deal than they have let on.

Theresa May told a meeting of European business leaders yesterday that ‘good progress’ was being made in the talks, and said she was ‘confident a deal would be reached’.

Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab is expected to travel to Northern Ireland in the coming days in the hope of finding a way through the last major sticking point in the negotiations. Earlier this week, Mr Raab said he expected a deal to be agreed by November 21. But Downing Street yesterday played down rumours of a breakthrough on a deal allowing the City access to EU markets after Brexit, saying: ‘Negotiations are ongoing.’

Whitehall sources yesterday said the talks remained stalled on the vexed issue of the Irish border. Mrs May has refused to accept EU demands for a second ‘backstop’ which would keep Northern Ireland in the customs union indefinitely.

Free movement of people will continue temporarily following a no-deal Brexit, Sajid Javid suggested yesterday. The Home Secretary told ITV there would be a ‘sensible transition period’ to allow time for a new immigration system.