Brexit: Scottish court to decide if Boris Johnson can be forced to sign extension letter - live news
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Mujtaba Rahman, the Brexit specialist at the Eurasia consultancy who produces regular briefing notes based on what he’s been told by insiders in London and Brussels, has issued an update on the state of play this morning. He says he thinks the chances of the UK and the EU agreeing a deal this week are now “close to zero”, and that the chances of a no-deal Brexit happening on 31 October are also “extremely small”. We’re heading for an election, he assumes.
Here’s an extract.
UK ministers admit privately there is little prospect of agreement. As one put it: “If the consent mechanism [on regulation] were the only problem, then a deal would be doable. But if we say Northern Ireland must be in the UK customs territory and the EU says it must be in the [EU]customs union, the problems are insurmountable. That’s where we are.” https://loma.ml/objects/373ebf56538ff17572c201d9997ef7f387f83ec1