As Brexit talks near end, cabinet sees deal

U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May has begun briefing her cabinet on the text of the almost-complete Brexit deal, as her negotiators seek to finalize the last outstanding issue in Brussels.

Senior ministers have been invited into a private reading room in a building adjoining May’s offices to examine the 95 percent of the withdrawal package that’s been agreed on so far, according to sources. In addition, May and European Council President Donald Tusk spoke by phone Wednesday.

What’s missing is the most contentious part of the deal — the guarantee to keep trade flowing freely across the Irish border. Options are now being negotiated in detail by British and European officials in Brussels, according to people familiar with the positions of both sides.

If these talks are successful, officials will declare that “decisive progress” has been made on the terms of the U.K.’s exit from the bloc. British officials say this could happen as early as Thursday.

May will still need to get the deal, including the so-called Irish border backstop plan, approved by her cabinet and later by Parliament — where she’s likely to face considerable opposition.

But two people familiar with the issue suggested she would not need to wait for cabinet approval before agreeing in principle to the terms negotiated in Brussels.

There was no consensus at a cabinet meeting Tuesday, as ministers were still discussing a fix for the Irish border issue. They expect another meeting to be called within days, when May is likely to press them to sign off on her deal.

She still faces one major hurdle to getting that cabinet agreement: Pro-Brexit ministers led by Environment Secretary Michael Gove are demanding to see the full legal advice on which May’s plans are based.

Gove and his euroskeptic cabinet colleagues are concerned May will tie the U.K. into an open-ended customs union with the EU, part of the plan for the Irish border. They fear Britain being locked permanently into a customs union with the EU, which would limit the U.K.’s ability to strike trade deals.