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Brexit: Varadkar says new agreement 'possible' by end of October after talks with Johnson - live news Brexit: Varadkar says new agreement 'possible' by end of October after talks with Johnson - live news
(32 minutes later)
Moving away from Brexit, the Lord Speaker has called for an overhaul of how appointments are made to the upper chamber as he criticised peers who are “eager for the title” but do little work.
Lord Fowler said some peers are “entirely unprepared” for the position as he urged Boris Johnson to follow predecessor Theresa May’s example and show “restraint” in the number of peers he appoints.
Writing in The House magazine, the former Conservative Cabinet minister said: “Frankly, we have had enough of peers who are eager enough for the honour of the title but do precious little when they arrive.
“They are a minority - I emphasise that - but it is difficult to justify their place in a modern working House.”
Lord Fowler suggested potential peers should be interviewed by a committee.
He said they should be “asked bluntly what contribution they intend to make”.
Deputy prime minister of Ireland Simon Coveney on the Brexit deadline
Back in Dublin, @simoncoveney says “significant Amount of work to be done” to seal Brexit deal - but can be done before end of October
So what happens next?
If there is no agreement reached with the EU, Boris Johnson will face demands from opposition parties to comply with the Benn Act which would require him to go back to Brussels and request a further Brexit delay.
The prime minister has said that while he will abide by the law, he is determined to leave on the Halloween deadline.
Many MPs believe that if he cannot get a deal, Johnson will use the occasion to lambast them for thwarting an agreement, laying the ground for a “people versus Parliament” general election, potentially as early as next month.
be a ruse. Either way, the hint of an entente is perfectly timed, to limit the risk that backbench MPs take Johnson hostage before next Thursday's EU council meeting, when EU leaders face their darkest Brexit hour and hardest Brexit decision - namely whether to close the door...
deal is a genuine possibility, even the ultras among Tory rebels will feel obliged to give Johnson and his negotiators the time and space to try and conclude that deal. In other words, Johnson's optimism and apparent readiness to adapt his offer may be real or may...
referendum on May's gone-but-not-forgotten Brexit deal. When that flopped (as it probably would), the rebels would go for a vote of no confidence, to engineer Johnson's removal. As I understand it, this has been their plan. However if Dublin and [tomorrow] Brussels signal a...
however is that if the negotiations were to collapse this weekend, that would be the worst timing for Johnson, because it would spur rebel Tory MPs to use SO24 next week to take control of commons business - and they would try to get a motion passed in favour of a...
ITV’s Robert Peston on his take on the Brexit discussions
I pass on, with little confidence or real understanding, that @BorisJohnson seems to believe that @LeoVaradkar and Dublin have lessened their objections of principle to his Brexit offer. Maybe both sides are moving in a signficant way. We'll see. What I should point out...
Micheál Martin’s reaction to the talks in LiverpoolMicheál Martin’s reaction to the talks in Liverpool
I’m pleased that the megaphone diplomacy has been replaced by proper & serious #Brexit discussion today. The signals coming from Liverpool are encouraging and we hope that positive momentum can be sustained over coming week.I’m pleased that the megaphone diplomacy has been replaced by proper & serious #Brexit discussion today. The signals coming from Liverpool are encouraging and we hope that positive momentum can be sustained over coming week.
Scottish Brexit Secretary Mike Russell responding to Michael Gove who accused the SNP of undermining the Brexit process.Scottish Brexit Secretary Mike Russell responding to Michael Gove who accused the SNP of undermining the Brexit process.
Russell said: “Mr Gove has completely ignored Scotland’s overwhelming vote to remain in the EU, and has ignored every attempt to find compromise from the Scottish Government - so we will take absolutely no lectures from him on democracy.Russell said: “Mr Gove has completely ignored Scotland’s overwhelming vote to remain in the EU, and has ignored every attempt to find compromise from the Scottish Government - so we will take absolutely no lectures from him on democracy.
“We are preparing as best as we can for Brexit, but no one can fully mitigate the impact of the Brexit chaos that Mr Gove’s government is set to inflict on us.”“We are preparing as best as we can for Brexit, but no one can fully mitigate the impact of the Brexit chaos that Mr Gove’s government is set to inflict on us.”
More from Lisa O’Carroll on the progress madeMore from Lisa O’Carroll on the progress made
But this feels like a significant day. Consider that on Tuesday Downing St was briefing that deal was essentially impossible after call with Merkel...to have both leaders issue joint statement agreeing there is path to deal is quite somethingBut this feels like a significant day. Consider that on Tuesday Downing St was briefing that deal was essentially impossible after call with Merkel...to have both leaders issue joint statement agreeing there is path to deal is quite something
Brexit correspondent Lisa O’Carroll’s take on the meeting between Johnson and VaradkarBrexit correspondent Lisa O’Carroll’s take on the meeting between Johnson and Varadkar
So upshot of meeting is cautious optimism that deal can be struck, suggestions concessions on both sides. This obviously not the same as a deal being ratified by parliament and we won’t know where we are with that until Johnson shares details with party and, crucially, DUP. 1/So upshot of meeting is cautious optimism that deal can be struck, suggestions concessions on both sides. This obviously not the same as a deal being ratified by parliament and we won’t know where we are with that until Johnson shares details with party and, crucially, DUP. 1/
Boris Johnson cowardly for avoiding critics in Liverpool following Hillsborough remarks, says mayor
Boris Johnson cowardly for avoiding critics in Liverpool, says mayor
Michael Gove has claimed the Scottish Government has undermined the Brexit process so it can “smash up the United Kingdom”.
The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster said he feels members of the Scottish Government are not working in the best interests of their citizens by failing to prepare for leaving the European Union.
The comments come after Scottish Brexit Secretary Mike Russell said the relationship between Westminster and the devolved administrations has deteriorated.
Speaking after the meeting of the Joint Ministerial Committee (EU Negotiations) (JMCEN), Gove said: “The overriding policy of the SNP is to smash up the United Kingdom and separate families.
“I sometimes wonder if, not just in rhetoric but in policy, the SNP is not thinking in the interests of Scottish citizens first, but are thinking in the interest of their own agenda.
“These issues are far too important to be politicised in that way and I hope that the wiser voices in the Scottish Government prevail in order to ensure that people do act where they need to act, in order to make sure that the sovereign decision that the United Kingdom’s electorate came to is honoured.”
He added the SNP promised in 2014 there would not be another referendum on independence, saying he would “take them at their word”.
Brexit party MEPs vote against plans to address Russian propaganda
Brexit party MEPs vote against plans to tackle Russian propaganda https://t.co/ZP99X4GXrN
A few key dates for the diary:
Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay will meet the EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, in Brussels on Friday when they are expected to assess whether there are the grounds to move forward.
Boris Johnson almost certainly needs the EU leaders gathering in Brussels on October 17 and 18 to sign off on an agreement in order to be able to take Britain out of the EU on October 31 with a deal.
In what has been dubbed Super Saturday, The House of Commons will meet on October 19 for a debate on Brexit, the first time the Commons has met on a Saturday since April 3, 1982 at the start of the Falklands crisis.
Sky News is reporting that Downing Street has appealed to the bosses of FTSE-100 companies to publicly endorse Boris Johnson’s Brexit “compromise deal”.
Advisers to the prime minister have this week been canvassing support from business leaders for an open letter arguing that the uncertainty over Brexit “needs to end”.
Sources said “a substantial number” of Britain’s most prominent companies had been contacted during the last week to gauge their interest in signing the letter.
But they warned that it might not be published because of executives’ reluctance to back its contents amid concerns about its “overtly political” message.
Gove was also asked by the Guardian about remarks earlier by Gianluca de Ficchy, chairman of Nissan Europe, that a no deal Brexit would put the car firm’s entire European operation “in jeopardy” and would be unsustainable.
De Ficchy added his firm’s anxieties were increased by the lack of clarity from the UK government the “future evolution of the Brexit discussion.”
Gove implied that he sympathised but said de Ficchy’s worries were unfounded:
“Obviously all of us hope that the negotiations can come to a conclusion and the chairman of Nissan, like all of us, I’m sure will be heartened by the positive and constructive tone of the meeting between the prime and the Taoiseach today
“And again, more broadly, we know that unmitigated, a no deal Brexit poses particular challenges for particular sections of our economy. I have never hidden from that but it is my job to ensure that we can put the appropriate mitigations in place.
“And as I have said in the past, while there will be difficulties that we face if we do go down the road of no deal, there are greater difficulties if we say to the British people that we are not going to honour their request to leave the European Union.
“The best way to do that is to leave with a negotiated deal and that’s the prime minister’s principle aim and driving ambition.”
Michael Gove, the de facto deputy prime minister, said the apparent breakthrough following Boris Johnson’s talks with Leo Varadkar should allay fears from car maker Nissan about the potential crisis of a no deal Brexit.
Speaking to reporters after a meeting with the Scottish and Welsh governments in Edinburgh, Gove said the Taoiseach’s optimistic assessment about the growing prospects by the end of this month were “very encouraging”.
“I know the prime minister and the Taoiseach spoke privately for quite some time before bringing in their officials. I know the tone was positive from that meeting.
“The Irish government will be briefing {EU chief negotiator] Michel Barnier and the [European Commission’s] Taskforce 50 team so I hope that the optimistic and constructive approach that both sides showed can result in more progress.”
Audio of Varadkar’s press conference after his talks with the prime minister
Here's recording of Leo Varadkar press conference following meeting with Boris Johnson https://t.co/fpJSEAAS3x
Home Office minister Brandon Lewis has disclosed that the UK will deport EU citizens after Brexit if they fail to apply for the right to remain in time.
He told a German newspaper they would have to leave even if they met all the criteria for a residency permit.
Lewis told Die Welt: “If EU citizens until this point of time have not registered and have no adequate reason for it, then the valid immigration rules will be applied.”
When pressed on whether that would include those who met the legal requirements for residence but did not apply in the next 14 months, he replied: “Theoretically yes. We will apply the rules.”
Campaign group the3million, which represents EU citizens in the UK, said this was “no way to treat people”.
The Home Office said 1.8 million people had applied to the scheme and others have until “at least” December next year.
It said those with “reasonable grounds” for missing the date would be granted an extension to apply for the right to live and work in the UK.
Here’s a recording of Leo Varadkar’s remarks after his meeting with Johnson today.