Brexit: UK can further progress in negotiations – Downing Street

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Reuters

The UK can still make progress in the Brexit negotiations despite serious unresolved issues, Downing Street said.

The talks between Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab and EU negotiator Michel Barnier failed on Sunday before the so-called Irish "backstop", which could see the UK staying in the customs union .

BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg said no other discussion was scheduled before the EU leaders' summit on Wednesday.

But number 10 said the government was still "determined to make progress".

Adam Fleming, BBC Brussels correspondent, said Wednesday's meeting would be dominated by unresolved issues in the divorce process, rather than a discussion of future relations.

He added that this meant that the Brexit talks "might not end in November, as the UK would like."

The week's summit comes as domestic political pressure on Ms. May increases due to threats of resignation from the firm.

And Labor Party Brexit Secretary Keir Starmer has put further pressure on Ms. May, calling on her government to release its plan for support.

Mr Starmer said any proposal should be the subject of scrutiny by MEPs before an agreement can be reached with the rest of the EU at the EU summit. Brussels.

A source in number 10 said that the Prime Minister was assured that Parliament was regularly kept informed of the talks.

& # 39; Naked contempt & # 39;

Former Foreign Minister Boris Johnson said the idea of ​​support should be completely abandoned.

In the Daily Telegraph, Mr. Johnson wrote that "assuming to amend the constitutional provisions of the United Kingdom, the EU is treating us with flagrant disregard".

For his part, Adrian O'Neill, Ireland's ambassador to the UK, said the events in Brussels on Sunday were a "setback" and could increase the prospect of a Brexit without agreement.

He told BBC Radio 4's Westminster Hour that the weather was "running out," adding, "Preparing for all eventualities is speeding up significantly."

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EPA

Is the PM in motion?

By BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg

There may have been a feeling in Brussels that Mrs May was heading towards them, but politics at home has become more difficult.

Thursday's cabinet meeting added to the concern and gave the Brexiteers another excuse to clash their swords.

The DUP continues to warn that it would sink the administration rather than see the deal feared to be concluded. Several ministers are thinking about the possibility of continuing.

And, more importantly, different groups of Conservative MPs who complain about other policies are an opportunity, because the government is vulnerable.

Any initiative by the Prime Minister has become both more difficult and more urgent.

His party will not accept a proposal to keep the UK essentially in the customs union. Parliament is likely to block any agreement. The EU will not accept his ladies plan.

Even loyal ministers are deeply worried – "She is like a chess player who has more than just the king." She can only move one box at a time until she's done. it's checked. "

Read more about Laura.

The question of the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, which will become the United Kingdom's border with the EU, is one of the last obstacles to the conclusion of A divorce agreement with Brussels.

The quarrels continue as to the nature of a "backstop" to keep the border open if a wider trade agreement between the UK and the EU can solve it.

The EU version, according to which Northern Ireland would remain aligned with the Brussels rules, was described as unacceptable by Ms May and her Unionist Democratic allies.

The counterproposal by the Prime Minister is to put in place a temporary customs regime for the whole of the UK, but the Tory Brexiteers fear that it would become an open position that would prevent free trade agreements with countries around the world.

In a letter to Ms May, Scottish Secretary David Mundell and Scottish Conservative Party leader Ruth Davidson said they would not accept Northern Ireland being treated differently than the British. Remainder of United Kingdom under a Brexit agreement.

The result is reports that other senior ministers have reviewed their positions this weekend in anticipation of a cabinet meeting on Tuesday where ministers could be asked to give their consent to any deal.

In an article in the Sunday Times, David Davis, former secretary of Brexit, urged ministers to "exercise their collective authority" and to reject these plans at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

The feverish atmosphere in the Conservative ranks has seen Davis become a potential successor to Ms. May.

Conservative MP Nadine Dorries has publicly suggested that he could be the leader of the kind of Brexit sought after by Eurosceptics.

Ms. Dorries said that the installation of Mr. Davis as Interim Chief "could be the only way to implement Brexit and FTA [free trade agreement]".