Boris Brexit boost as Brussels says deal is 'possible in days' with green light for a weekend of negotiations 'as PM agrees to a customs border in the Irish Sea' and the DUP do not torpedo the plan

Boris Johnson received a major Brexit boost last night as Brussels chiefs declared that a deal was possible within days.

The European Union gave the green light for a weekend of intense negotiations aimed at hammering out an agreement ahead of a crunch summit on Thursday.

The Prime Minister welcomed the step forward, but warned that ‘there’s a way to go’ and that it is not yet a ‘done deal’.

‘It’s important now that our negotiators on both sides get into proper talks about how to sort this thing out,’ he added.

Diplomats in Brussels said Mr Johnson had secured the breakthrough by agreeing to a customs border in the Irish Sea.

Speaking on a visit to a school yesterday afternoon, Mr Johnson said the new blueprint - which has been kept determinedly under wraps - would mean the 'whole of the UK takes full advantage of Brexit'.

But he dodged when pressed on whether Northern Ireland will definitely leave the EU's customs union, saying people should simply 'look at what I have said before and draw their own conclusions'.

Democratic Unionist Party leader Arlene Foster, whose support will be key to getting a deal through Parliament, fired a warning shot at the Prime Minister last night when she insisted she would block anything that ‘traps Northern Ireland in the European Union, whether single market or customs union, as the rest of the UK leaves’.


https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7564833/Boris-Brexit-boost-deal-possible-days-green-light-weekend-negotiations.html