We can see a path to Brexit deal

BORIS Johnson was handed a lifeline by Irish PM Leo Varadkar yesterday after the pair agreed there was a “pathway to a possible deal” following crunch talks.

Hopes of reaching agreement ahead of next week’s crucial Brussels summit remained slim as the two leaders met for “private talks” at a luxury hotel on the Wirral.

A joint statement after the meeting said: “Both continue to believe a deal is in everybody’s interest. They agreed they could see a pathway to a possible deal.”

The talks, which lasted more than two hours, concentrated on the major sticking points of customs arrangements and BY MIKEY SMITH Northern Ireland’s “consent” to Johnson’s Brexit blueprint.

Afterwards, Varadkar said: “I had a very good meeting with the Prime Minister – very positive and very promising. I do see a pathway to an agreement in coming weeks.

“I think it is possible for us to come to an agreement, to have a treaty agreed to allow the UK to leave the EU in an orderly fashion and to have that done by the end of October. But there’s many a slip between cup and lip and lots of things that are not in my control.”

They agreed to “reflect further on their discussions and officials would continue to engage intensively on them”. Earlier, Varadkar tweeted he was, “looking forward to a detailed discussion to see if we can make any progress”.

But the Irish PM has said reaching a deal before next week’s Brussels summit would be “very difficult”.

Yesterday’s meeting was held at Thornton Manor – the venue for Coleen Rooney’s 21st birthday party in 2007.

Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay will meet with the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier tomorrow in Brussels.

Johnson now has less than seven days to reach an agreement for EU leaders to sign off at their summit on October 17 and 18 if he’s to take Britain out of the EU on October 31 with a deal.

If he comes back from the summit empty-handed, he’ll be forced to write to Brussels asking for more time.

MPs will sit on Saturday October 19, deal or no deal, to debate the next steps.

Meanwhile, Britain’s outgoing chief medical officer warned no-deal Brexit could cause deaths due to medicine shortages – despite Government preparations.

Dame Sally Davies said: “We cannot guarantee there will not be shortages, not only of medicines but technology, gadgets and things. And there may be deaths. We can’t guarantee there won’t.”

Former chancellor Philip Hammond wants Britain to pursue a zero-tariffs deal with the EU, keeping the UK inside the customs union and doing away with the need for a Northern Ireland backstop.

It would leave Britain unable to pursue free trade deals with other countries but Hammond argued the image of a “buccaneering” post-Brexit Britain was false.

He added: “These trade deals are of very limited potential value and likely to be very hard to negotiate without serious domestic and political consequences.”