EURO TUNNEL
Intensive talks raise chance of agreement
We can see a pathway. It does not mean it’s a done deal BORIS JOHNSON ON BREXIT DEAL TALKS
BY MIKEY SMITH BREXIT talks have entered the secretive “tunnel” stage in a boost for the PM’s hopes of securing a deal before the October 31 deadline.
But Boris Johnson was tightlipped last night on what concessions he made to get EU leaders to warm to his plans.
He refused to give a “running commentary” on negotiations, but said his three-hour meeting with Irish leader Leo Varadkar on Thursday had been crucial to finding a way forward.
He said: “We can see a pathway to a deal. That doesn’t mean it’s a done deal.”
But he said leaving Northern Ireland in the customs union remained off the table as a solution to the border issue.
Despite increased hopes of a deal, Government preparations for no-deal Brexit continued in earnest.
Ministers yesterday handed over £86.6million to four ferry companies to ensure the flow of vital medicines if Britain crashes out of the EU without a deal. Talks in Brussels accelerated after a “constructive meeting” between Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay and the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier.
Yesterday morning, Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, said there were “promising signals” but warned Johnson had “still not come forward with a workable proposal”.
The PM has just six days left to hammer out the structure of a deal that can be agreed on October 17 and 18.
The “tunnel” is Brussels jargon for in-depth talks among a select group of negotiators designed to minimise leaks.
EU citizens, supporters and MPs will surround the Home Office today to demand migrants’ rights are defended after Brexit.
Organisers of the Rally 4 Our Rights march say the Government’s Settled Status Scheme has “already been shown to be unfit for purpose”.
In a statement, organisers said: “Over three million EU Citizens in the UK, and about one-and-a-half million UK citizens in the EU, have been left in limbo for over three years.
“In the UK, EU27 citizens must apply to be permitted to stay in their own homes but the Settled Status Scheme has been shown to be error-prone and unfit for purpose.
“The prospect of a no-deal Brexit leaves most UK citizens in EU27 countries in a further state of uncertainty.
“Non-EU citizens in the UK already face a daily struggle against a deliberately inhumane immigration system and future plans will make lives harder.”