The Brexit negotiations continued, as the British PM made concessions concerning the Irish backstop issue.
Under this new deal, Northern Ireland would remain in the customs union with the United Kingdom but the later would need to enforce the European Union customs standards in order to avoid a hard border between the former and the Republic of Ireland.
“Northern Ireland would de jure be in the UK’s customs territory but de facto in the European Union’s,” said a diplomatic source.
The parts are meeting today in order to work out a deal that would put the UK on the path towards a negotiated exit from the EU. Such a deal will be discussed later on in the upcoming EU summit.
The Irish Taoiseach expressed his enthusiasm for the new talks but highlighted that there are many issues that would need to be resolved before a proper deal is reached.
“There is a pathway to a possible deal but there are many issues that still need to be fully resolved, particularly around the consent mechanism and also some issues around customs and VAT," said Varadkar, adding that an extra EU summit may be needed to fix all the problems.
If approved by Brussels, the deal would need to be ratified by the British Parliament during the weekend. Otherwise, if no deal is approved before October 19, the British government would be obligated to ask for an extension.
Johnson keeps insisting on leaving the union by October 31, or at least this is what he keeps claiming on his Twitter account.
"It’s time to get Brexit done and get on with delivering on Britain’s priorities: safer streets, better hospitals, and improved schools," said Johnson.
Liberal Democrats aim for a second referendum
The Liberal Democrats, a strongly pro-remain party, is presenting in the parliament a proposal that would open the doors for a second referendum. A proposal like this one was rejected by the commons in April.
“Boris Johnson is determined to have a general election, but the best way to resolve the Brexit chaos is to have a people’s vote and give the British people the final say about their future," said the Liberal Democrat party leader Jo Swinson, “The best deal we have is as members of the European Union and we want to give the people the chance to choose to stop Brexit,” she added.
This is unacceptable for the British conservative party since they consider the 2016 one binding.
The pro-remain camp hopes they will reach a majority though they're not sure about at least 40 laborist MPs who abstained the last time this issue was discussed in the British parliament.
By 10:52 GMT the Pound Sterling went down against the US dollar by 0.45 percent, hitting the 1.2729 level. The GBP/JPY went down by 0.54 percent, going down to the 138.41 level. The Sterling fell 0.47 percent against the Swiss franc, at 1.2706, while the EUR/GBP was at 0.8661, gaining 0.42 percent.