Leaving the European Union without a deal would be “absurd” and the whole process of Brexit can still be stopped, Tony Blair has claimed. The former prime minister said the British people should be given the chance to vote again on whether to remain in the EU because otherwise they faced either a “pointless” or a “painful” version of Brexit.
A deal on the Irish border to break the Brexit deadlock is not close, the EU’s chief negotiator said on Tuesday. Michel Barnier was speaking as Theresa May briefed the Cabinet on her plans to achieve a breakthrough in time to secure a special Brexit summit to seal an agreement in November.
Pro-Brexit campaign group Leave.EU and an insurance company owned by its founder Aaron Banks face total fines of £135,000 over breaches of data laws. It follows an Information Commissioner investigation into the misuse of personal data by political campaigns.
Senior British ministers have agreed they want to reach a Brexit deal with the EU by the end of November, sources say. Everyone saw the difficulties of leaving it longer, a senior cabinet source told the BBC. Meanwhile, the BBC has seen a detailed suggested timetable of how the government could try to sell a deal to MPs and the public.
Irish premier Leo Varadkar has told Theresa May that he will not accept a Brexit deal which gives the UK the unilateral power to halt “backstop” arrangements for the border with Northern Ireland. In a phone conversation with the Taoiseach, Mrs. May said that any agreement would have to include a mechanism to bring an end to the backstop – designed to ensure there is no hard border in Ireland if the UK and EU fail to reach a broader trade deal.
Members of Parliament have been urged to back another Brexit referendum by 1,400 of the UK's top lawyers. They have written to Prime Minister Theresa May to say that Parliament should not be bound by the 2016 vote. “Democratic government is not frozen in time,” the letter said.
The United Kingdom and the European Union have made progress on a deal to give London’s dominant financial center basic access to EU markets after Brexit, two British officials said, but no agreement has yet been clinched.
Brexit backer Arron Banks is being investigated by the UK’s serious crime agency for “suspected criminal offences” over £8 million of campaign funding during the Brexit referendum.
Almost two-thirds of Scots believe a second vote on Brexit would result in the UK voting to stay in the European Union, a new poll has found. Research by Survation found 64% found a so-called People’s Vote would reverse the result of the 2016 referendum.
There was confusion in Westminster over how close an overall Brexit deal may be after Dominic Raab hinted a deal could be done within weeks. Mr. Raab was accused of a “messy U-turn” after he indicated he expected an EU withdrawal deal finalized by November 21, only for his department to later insist there was no set date.