Boris Johnson is fighting attempts by the EU to delay Brexit until next year as negotiators worked through the night to secure a deal.
Brussels raised hopes of a breakthrough before the European summit tomorrow, with officials scrambling to prepare a draft treaty text. Talks broke up 1.30am local time and resume again at 9am.
A source said that genuine progress had been made on a small number of “not insignificant” outstanding issues.
A deal is, the source was “feasible today but not in the bag”.
However, there were warnings, echoed in Berlin and Paris, that the technical details might take until January 1 to finalise.
Mr Johnson’s allies insisted that EU nations were split over the desirability of further delay. One said there was “strong desire among powerful forces to get this sorted”.
Jo Swinson, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, suggested her party might vote for a deal brought before the Commons if a second referendum were attached. “We will back a referendum on any deal,” she told Today on BBC Radio 4.
The DUP, meanwhile, warned Mr Johnson not to make further concessions that would keep Northern Ireland tied to EU rules and customs or on how its people give consent to arrangements.
Arlene Foster, the DUP leader, and Nigel Dodds, her deputy, held talks last night with Mr Johnson over the details of a new offer. This must be tabled today for any chance of an agreement at the two-day European summit.
Speaking before the meeting Ms Foster said the party would support only “a deal that respects the constitutional and economic place of Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom. There has to be consent which is in accordance with the Belfast agreement, in other words there has to be consent from the nationalist community and the unionist community.”
Dublin insists that the DUP must not in effect have a veto over whether the customs arrangement comes into force after the transition period.
Downing Street officials embarked on a charm offensive to win the support of Tory Eurosceptics, moderates and former Tory MPs stripped of the whip.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, the leader of the Commons, told LBC: “I think the votes are there now for a deal.”
The developments come before a potential vote on a deal this weekend under plans for parliament to sit on a Saturday for the first time in 37 years.
However, Mr Johnson faces being pushed into a delay even if the outline of a deal is done. A senior German official said that political agreement on a deal would not be enough “to resolve technical issues” that would require Brexit to be postponed for a third time for “some two months”.
A senior EU diplomatic source said: “Without a deal this week, Britain will need an extension. With a deal this week, Britain will need an extension.”
Leo Varadkar added to speculation that Mr Johnson would be offered only an agreement in principle at the summit. The Irish prime minister suggested that his counterpart may be asked to prove he can get the deal through the Commons before it is signed in Brussels.
The issue of a “technical extension” to allow the details of a Brexit agreement and its implementation to be ironed out was raised by President Macron of France during a phone call with Mr Johnson yesterday morning.
If Mr Johnson fails to get an agreed deal with the EU through the Commons by Saturday evening he is compelled to ask the EU for an extension under the terms of the Benn act.
The prime minister has repeatedly pledged to take Britain out of the EU “do or die” on October 31.
Talks are focusing on a hybrid of past proposals from Theresa May, previously rejected by the EU, on a new customs partnership covering Northern Ireland. The complex plan would keep it inside Britain’s customs territory while guaranteeing that checks and controls under EU rules are carried out on all goods travelling from the mainland across the Irish Sea to the province.
Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, set a midnight deadline for a deal to be reached, but talks were set to run into the early hours. He told European foreign ministers yesterday: “They have moved in our direction on key points.”
The pound rose more than 1 per cent against the dollar to $1.2747 and by 1.3 per cent against the euro to €1.1572.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/boris-johnson-hit-by-prospect-of-no-brexit-until-2020-9b6np3q0z
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