Boris Johnson on cusp of reaching Brexit deal with EU

Talks are on a knife edge as UK-EU negotiations continue amid rising hopes that a deal is imminent.

Boris Johnson is closer to reaching a deal with the EU. Picture: Getty Images.

Brexit talks are on a knife edge as negotiations between the United Kingdom and the European Union continue in amid rising hopes that a deal is in the offing.

Sources close to the negotiations have indicated that a draft plan could be ready by Wednesday, ahead of Thursday’s European Council summit.

The break-through came after the UK agreed to the EU’s demands for a customs border down the Irish Sea.

However, British prime minister Boris Johnson is to have late night discussions with the Democratic Unionist Party in order to secure their agreement to have such a border — which previously they have been opposed to.

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Mr Johnson appears to have got the support of the arch Brexiteer element of his party, the European Research Group, with leader Steve Baker indicating he would now support Mr Johnson’s deal.

“I am optimistic that it is possible to reach a tolerable deal that I am able to vote for,” he said.

Mr Johnson appears to be winning over his party by promising that Northern Ireland will leave the European Union along with Great Britain on October 31, but will abide by European rules on agriculture and other goods to ensure there will be no hard Irish border.

DUP leader Arlene Foster said she would do what was best for the union.

“I am sure we will indeed be engaging with the prime minister later on this evening,” she said.

The cautious optimism coming out of European headquarters in Luxembourg and Brussels is at odds with the approach previously adopted by the EU. But since a meeting last week between Mr Johnson and the Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar there is now a stronger political willingness to make Brexit happen.

However, even if a deal is agreed, Mr Johnson will have to get Westminster to approve, meaning he will have to win over the hard core Remainers in his party, including those who crossed the floor to secure the Benn Act.

That act requires Mr Johnson to ask for a Brexit extension by October 19 if a deal is not forthcoming.

EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier tried to pressure the UK by saying an agreement had to be reached by the end of the day if it was to be signed off by the EU summit on Wednesday and Thursday.

Mr Barnier is due to brief EU ambassadors on Wednesday afternoon.

A Downing Street spokesman said: “Talks remain constructive but there is more work still to do”.