UK and EU 'appear close to Brexit breakthrough'

Belgian MEP Philippe Lamberts told the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg that the UK had made a concession on the Irish border.

The BBC's political editor said Mr Lamberts said the UK was prepared to accept that Northern Ireland may remain in the EU's customs union and single market in all but name. But, she stressed, the BBC has not yet seen the draft document nor has it yet been signed off.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon reacted to reports that Northern Ireland could retain "regulatory alignment" with the EU by saying there was "surely no good practical reason" why other parts of the UK could not do the same.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42217735

Arlene Foster, the DUP leader, is speaking now.

She says the DUP would oppose anything that would lead to regulatory divergence between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

She says the DUP wants to see a sensible Brexit.

The Irish government claim to be guarantors of the Belfast agreement. But they are seeking to unilaterally change it, she says. She says the DUP will not stand for that.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/blog/live/2017/dec/04/theresa-may-heads-to-brussels-hoping-to-conclude-phase-one-of-brexit-talks-politics-live

The UK and EU have failed to reach an agreement to move to the next stage of Brexit talks, Theresa May has said. The prime minister said talks would reconvene "before the end of the week" and she was "confident we will conclude this positively".

The talks are understood to have broken down after the DUP refused to accept concessions on the Irish border issue.

Mrs May is understood to have broken off from talks with European Commission President Jean-Claude Junker to speak to DUP leader Arlene Foster.

The UK had reportedly been prepared to accept that Northern Ireland may remain in the EU's customs union and single market in all but name. But Mrs Foster then said her party "will not accept any form of regulatory divergence" that separates Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK. "During the call it was made plain to the PM that the DUP had significant concerns about the deal being discussed that gave concessions to the Dublin government," said the BBC's political editor Laura Kuenssberg.

Fabian Picardo
✔
@FabianPicardo

These are sensible reflections on the emerging news stories today. If differentiated solutions are a possibility, they should be a possibility for each of the relevant nations, Gibraltar included. We will await concrete news... https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/5058973/gibraltar-downing-street-forget-brexit-negotiations/ …