Donald Tusk has poured cold water on hopes of a Brexit breakthrough at Wednesday's EU summit, saying the Irish border was still a sticking point. The European Council president said he had no grounds for optimism it would be solved at the summit and called on Theresa May to come up with concrete proposals to break the impasse.
Theresa May will try to rally ministers behind her this morning at the start of a critical 48 hours for Brexit. On Monday, the PM told MPs an agreement with the EU was “still achievable” despite differences over the Irish border if “cool heads” prevailed. EU officials, though, have warned no-deal is “more likely than ever before”.
The UK can still make progress in Brexit talks despite serious unresolved issues, Downing Street has said. Talks between Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab and EU negotiator Michel Barnier faltered on Sunday over the so-called Irish “backstop”, which could see the UK remaining in the customs union. However Number 10 said the government was still “committed to making progress”.
UK government cabinet ministers raised concerns about potential compromises with the EU over Brexit at a No 10 meeting on Thursday. According to London media reports Liam Fox, Michael Gove and Dominic Raab expressed concern the whole of the UK could remain in the customs union for an open-ended period.
UK Prime Minister Theresa May will face the Commons for the first time since the EU rejected her Brexit plan, amid mounting pressure from some Tory MPs to change course. A week before a crucial meeting of EU leaders, the prime minister shows no sign of abandoning her proposals.
Britain would be welcomed into the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact “with open arms” by Japan, the country’s prime minister has said. Shinzo Abe also urged the use of “wisdom” during Brexit talks in order to avoid a no-deal withdrawal from the EU.
Downing Street has played down expectations of agreement on Britain’s withdrawal from the EU at a crunch summit next week, warning that “big issues” remain to be resolved. Theresa May’s official spokesman said further concessions were needed from the EU side, and warned that no withdrawal agreement could be sealed without a “precise” declaration about the post-Brexit relationship.
Canada has not invited the United States or China to a high-level meeting on reforming the World Trade Organization (WTO). The country will host a small group of like-minded trade ministers in Ottawa in late October to discuss the global trade body. Officials say countries like the US and China will be included at a later date in the reforms discussion process.
Facebook is facing a potential £1.2bn fine for a data breach which allowed hackers to access the personal information of 50 million users. The Irish Data Protection Commission (IDPC), the lead supervising authority for Facebook in the EU, officially opened its investigation this week after the social media giant admitted hackers could have accessed the accounts of millions of users through a “vulnerability” last Friday.
Unworkable”, “unacceptable”, “impasse”, are some of the words used to describe Brexit talks between Britain and the European Union do little to temper concerns that the two are heading for a chaotic divorce. But behind the scenes, both sides are preparing concessions as part of what one British official called “a constructive dialogue” that could yet lead to a deal.