Brexit talks not on table at dinner with May – Varadkar

IRISH premier Leo Varadkar said he would not be negotiating Brexit when he met Theresa May for dinner in Dublin last night.

After holding talks in Brussels on Thursday, the Prime Minister flew to Dublin in an effort to resolve the dispute over the Irish backstop, which remains the main stumbling block to an agreement.

She was joined for the private dinner by the UK’s Brexit negotiator Olly Robbins and her chief of staff Gavin Barwell.

Mr Varadkar said that, while the meal presented an opportunity to “share perspectives” on Brexit, actual negotiations “can only be between the European Union and the United Kingdom”.

Speaking ahead of the dinner, Downing Street said Mrs May would be “emphasising what we are looking for, seeking the legally binding changes to the withdrawal agreement that Parliament said it needs to approve the deal”.

Attorney General Geoffrey Cox also held talks in Dublin yesterday with his Irish counterpart, Seamus Woulfe.

Mr Cox has been leading work within Whitehall on providing either a time limit on the backstop or giving the UK an exit mechanism from it.

Both proposals have received a dusty response from Dublin, which insists the backstop cannot be time-limited if it is to provide an effective “insurance policy” against the return of a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic.

Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay will hold talks with the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier on Monday.