Brexit: Tusk fails to back Juncker as he refuses to rule out granting further extension - as it happened

Mark Field, the Tory MP for the Cities of London and Westminster, has announced he will not stand in the next general election, blaming a “fractious and febrile” political atmosphere.

Field, who has held the seat since 2001, said in a statement to his local association he was proud of his reputation as a “moderate, consensual MP, invariably keen to work effectively across party lines to the benefit of constituents and communities alike”.

However, such a pragmatic, cooperative approach to public service has been tested to destruction in the fractious, febrile and deeply divisive aftermath to the EU referendum in 2016.

I had dearly hoped that by the time of the next general election these issues would have been resolved. However, it is increasingly clear that divisions over Brexit and our future relationship with the EU-27 will dominate and define domestic politics for many years to come.

Field was condemned by many this summer after he was filmed manhandling an environmental protester at the chancellor’s Mansion House speech.

The EU legislature will take its full time to carefully examine and approve any divorce deal for the UK, the European Parliament’s chief Brexit official has said. Guy Verhofstadt has said the process could spill past 31 October, when the UK is currently scheduled to leave the EU.

He has said MEPs will only start their work once the UK’s parliament has passed a fully binding Brexit deal. If that slips past the European plenary session next week, it could well have to be picked up in the session that begins on 13 November.

Any EU-UK Brexit withdrawal deal needs the official backing of both the British and European Parliaments. Verhofstadt said the parliament “will only start its work from the moment that we are 100% sure that the British Parliament will adopt this deal”.

The SNP’s Westminster leader, Ian Blackford, has been addressing his party’s amendment to Johnson’s Brexit deal, saying other opposition parties need to “quit dithering ... and finally act to bring this appalling Tory government down and stop Brexit”.

Boris Johnson’s appalling Brexit deal is even worse than Theresa May’s.

It would be devastating for Scotland – dragging us out of the EU, single market and customs union against our will, and singling Scotland out, alone of UK nations, for a raw deal, with our votes and voice ignored.

The SNP will never vote for this deal, which would inflict lasting harm on jobs, living standards, public services and the economy.

It is clearer than ever that the best future for Scotland is as an equal, independent European nation and the people of Scotland must be given that choice.

My colleagues, Jennifer Rankin and Rowena Mason, have just published this comprehensive look at how the deal was struck and what could happen next:

The shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, has labelled the Brexit agreement Johnson’s “sell-out deal”:

Here’s a little more reaction from Labour MPs:

Of course, it is to the likes of Sir Kevin Barron, Rosie Cooper, Jim Fitzpatrick, Caroline Flint and John Mann – Labour MPs who have previously backed a Brexit deal in the Commons – that Johnson will look for support.

It seems clear that the DUP will not only decline to support the deal, they will vote against it. This from Sky News’ David Blevins and Antonello Guerrera, of Italy’s la Repubblica newspaper:

My colleague, Lisa O’Carroll, has put together this handy explainer on what, exactly, Johnson’s deal entails. The key sentence:

Overall, the backstop has essentially been replaced by a full stop whereby Northern Ireland remains aligned to the EU from the end of the transition period for at least four years.

Besides the motion seeking MPs’ approval for the Brexit deal, a separate no-deal Brexit motion has also been tabled. But, the Press Association reports, it’s understood the government did this as a contingency measure as the talks were still taking place in Brussels.

Also, my colleague Rowena Mason has this:

The Labour MP, Hilary Benn, has asked government to release impact assessments for Johnson’s Brexit deal ahead of Saturday’s vote, in a letter to the Brexit secretary, Stephen Barclay.

And the wheels are starting to turn in Westminster:

It’s perhaps interesting to note that Johnson spent a not insignificant proportion of his time talking about policies one would expect to see in an election manifesto, as well as deploying the language of such a campaign, rather than about Brexit.

“Take back control” makes an appearance, as does “get Brexit done”.

He also refers to the planned recruitment of more police officers (though that might not be all it seems), as well as the government’s living wage plans, which he says represent the “biggest expansion”. Without Johnson setting out what he’s actually measuring that against, it’s impossible to determine whether or not it’s an accurate claim.

Furthermore, it’s worth putting Johnson’s claims about increased education funding into context. We reported back in March, for example, that teachers have been covering for canteen staff and cleaners in English schools under Tory government policy, while essential funds are raised by parent donations and “charity” non-uniform days:

Here’s the full text of the prime minister’s speech:

This has been a very productive day for the UK in the sense that the European Council has approved the deal that has been negotiated over the last couple of months and I thank them very much again for their work.

I particularly thank Michel Barnier and his team, I thank Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the commission, for all the personal effort that he has put into getting this deal done.

I want to stress that this is a great deal for our country, for the UK. I also believe it’s a very good deal for our friends in the EU.

And what it means is that we in the UK can come out of the EU as one United Kingdom – England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, together. And it means we can decide our future together. We can take back control, as the phrase goes, of our money, our borders, our laws, together. And we will be able to do free trade agreements around the world.

And we can also build now, after three and a half years, on our relations with our friends and partners in the EU and it will be a very exciting period now, as it were, to get to the positive side of that project; the extraction having been done, the building now begins.

I am very confident that, when my colleagues in Parliament study this agreement, that they will want to vote for it on Saturday and then in succeeding days.

This is our chance in the UK as democrats to get Brexit done and come out on 31 October.

This is our chance to focus on our priorities, the people’s priorities: the NHS; putting 20,000 police on the streets; lifting up funding of education across the country; the biggest expansion of the living wage.

Those are the things I think the people of our country want us to be focusing on, in addition to Brexit.

We’ve been at this now, as I say, for three and a half years. It hasn’t always been an easy experience for the UK. It’s been long, it’s been painful, it’s been divisive. And now is the moment for us, as a country, to come together. Now is the moment for our parliamentarians to come together and get this thing done.

And, as I say, to begin building a new and progressive partnership with our EU friends, with whom of course we share so many priorities.

It’s suggested that, without the support of the DUP, his predicament is similar to that of his predecessor, Theresa May. Is he not simply repeating her mistakes?

Johnson replies again that it’s a good deal that MPs should back. He had earlier told MPs he was “very confident” that, when MPs study the Brexit deal, they would want to vote for it.

The prime minister declines to say whether he’ll withdraw the whip from Tory MPs who do not vote for the deal. And he avoids a question on whether he’ll restore it to those from whom it was withdrawn last month.

Asked how the deal will help heal Brexit divisions within the UK, Johnson says that moving on from the “extraction” process will allow the country to begin working on determining the nature of the relationship with the EU.

The prime minister is saying that tying up the deal allows him to focus on other priorities, including putting 20,000 police officers on the streets. He has, of course, been accused of misleading the public over this policy.

He says Brexit has “been long, it’s been painful and divisive” and says he believes MPs will back it.

Boris Johnson is starting his press conference, claiming the deal allows the whole of the UK to leave the EU together. And he says it allows the “building” of a future relationship to begin.

Here is an important point flagged up by the political commentator and broadcaster Steve Richards.

Boris Johnson is about to hold a press conference.

But I am finished for the day. My colleague Kevin Rawlinson is taking over.

Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, is speaking now.

He says, after the UK leaves, the work on a new partnership will have to start.

He thanks his team. He thanks his most senior officials by name.

He says this deal will provide legal certainty.

He says he worked on the unity of the EU27 and of the European parliament.

He says he very much regrets Brexit. But he respects it. It was a sovereign choice of the UK.

He says he has a Gaullist tendency. He has great respect for the UK, and he remembers what the UK did in Europe’s darkest hour. He has infinite respect for the UK.

In the future the UK will be there.

Varadkar says the transition will last “at least” until the end of 2020. It could get extended.

He says Ireland and the EU’s objectives have been met. Citizens’ rights have been protected. There will be a financial settlement. There will be no hard border. And the all-island economy will continue.

He says the European council has backed this agreement unanimously. He hopes the UK parliament will now back it.

Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European commission, is speaking now.

He says the agreement protects the rights of citizens.

The EU has always put people first, he says.

He says this agreement would not have been possible without the taoiseach.

He says the political declaration provides for a free trade agreement.

He says he is happy they have reached a deal, but sad Brexit is happening.

The division lists for the vote on the Letwin amendment earlier (see 1.49pm) are on the Commons website here.

Only one Tory MP rebelled and supported the amendment, Dame Caroline Spelman. But nine of the 21 Tory MPs who lost the whip over a Brexit rebellion last month and who now sit as independents also voted for the amendment.

Only one DUP MP voted with the government. The other nine did not. We don’t know if that was a protest against the Brexit deal, but if the other nine DUP MPs had voted with the government would have lost by three, not nine.

The EU27 have finished their discussion on Brexit, according to Preben Aamann, a spokesman for Donald Tusk, the president of the European council. A draft of the conclusions was leaked earlier. (See 4.14pm.)

Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker are due to hold a press conference within the next half an hour.

Here is one take on how the voting could go on Saturday, under various scenarios.

From AFP’s Dave Clark

EU ministers are starting to query Jean-Claude Juncker’s claim that the EU would not allow a further Brexit extension. (See 2.37pm.)

This is from the BBC’s Nick Eardley, quoting the Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen.

And this is from the BBC’s Faisal Islam, quoting Paschal Donohoe, the Irish finance minister.

These are from my colleague Rowena Mason.

Politico Europe’s Jacopo Barigazzi has posted on Twitter a copy of a draft of the summit conclusions on Brexit. It does not say anything about whether the EU would or would not approve an extension if MPs were to vote down the deal. Instead it just invites the European commission, parliament and council “to take the necessary steps to ensure that the agreement can enter into force on 1 November 2019, so as to provide for an orderly withdrawal”.

Here is the latest story from the summit from my colleagues Daniel Boffey, Jennifer Rankin and Heather Stewart, focusing on Jean-Claude Juncker’s comments.

And this is how it starts.

Jean-Claude Juncker has tried to help sell the new Brexit deal in the face of opposition from the Democratic Unionist party by pouring doubt on a further Brexit extension in the event of it being rejected.

With Boris Johnson facing an uphill struggle to secure a majority in the Commons when it sits on Saturday, the European commission president piled pressure on MPs who fear a no-deal Brexit into giving their support.

Juncker said he was “ruling out” a prolongation, although the issue is solely the remit of the heads of state and government. “If we have a deal, we have a deal and there is no need for prolongation,” he added.

The claim was not repeated by any EU leaders. Donald Tusk, the European council president, confined himself to saying that “a deal is always better than a no deal”. Sources in Brussels suggested that previous comments from Juncker in which he had said the bloc would never choose a no-deal Brexit were a “better reflection” of the EU’s position.

Campaigning anti-Brexit QC Jolyon Maugham has now lodged his petition at the court of session in Edinburgh, which essentially tries to ban parliament from debating the new Brexit deal, on the basis that it is illegal, and which he anticipates will be heard tomorrow.

Maugham believes that the deal contravenes s55 of the Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Act 2018, which states that it is “unlawful for Her Majesty’s government to enter into arrangements under which Northern Ireland forms part of a separate customs territory to Great Britain”.

With the detail of Boris Johnson’s new deal still emerging, lawyers insist that s55 is “crystal clear” and that any form of differentiated deal for Northern Ireland will contravene it.

So buckle up for a weekend of constitutional hijinks in Edinburgh. Remember that if Johnson refuses to sign an extension letter to the EU (should he fail to get the deal through on Saturday AND provided the court doesn’t blow the whole debate out of the water) then Maugham will be back in court on Monday ... this time with his fellow petitioners, Joanna Cherry, Dale Vince, who are notably absent from today’s petition.

Lord Carloway, Scotland’s most senior judge, has already cleared time for an emergency hearing in the court of session at noon on Monday 21 October, where he could issue court orders forcing Johnson to send a letter to the EU asking for an extension to article 50 until 31 January as per the Benn act.

This is from Sir Craig Oliver, David Cameron’s former communications chief.

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, welcomed the Brexit deal as he arrived at the EU summit earlier, but stressed that it still had to get through the UK and EU parliaments.
“Based on past experience we have to be reasonably cautious,” he said.

From Reuters’ Luke Baker

Here is Katya Adler, the BBC’s Europe editor, on Jean-Claude Juncker’s comments.

Manufacturing Northern Ireland has given a “guarded welcome” the Brexit agreement saying it “removes the risk of a catastrophic no deal” but raises concerns about the administrative and financial burden on the new arrangements that will apply on some trade into Northern Ireland.

If it is approved, expect Northern Ireland business to be looking for substantial help on both points – the paperwork and costs – from London.

Stephen Kelly, Manufacturing NI’s chief executive, said:

What is good is that a deal is struck, we can move on to the more positive conversation about the future relationship and regardless Northern Ireland can continue to have tariff free, quota free access to both the UK and the EU’s single market.

More on the significance of Jean-Claude Juncker’s comments about the EU not agreeing to a further Brexit extension.

These are from Sky’s Lewis Goodall.

And this is from the BBC’s Norman Smith.

Boris Johnson has just given a brief statement to the press at the EU summit alongside Jean-Claude Juncker, the European commission president. Juncker said the deal was fair and balanced. He said:

This is a fair, a balanced agreement. It is testament to our commitment to finding solutions. It provides certainty where Brexit creates uncertainty.

And Johnson said this was a very good deal for both sides. He said:

I do think this deal represents a very good deal for the EU and the UK.

I think it is a reasonable, fair outcome and reflects the large amount of work undertaken by both sides ...

I agree very much with Jean-Claude about what he said about protecting the peace process on the island of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Of course, for us in the UK it means we can deliver a real Brexit that achieves our objectives.

It means the UK leaves whole and entire on 31 October and it means that Northern Ireland and every part of the UK can take part in not just free trade deals, offering our tariffs, exporting our goods around the world, but it also means we can take, together as a single United Kingdom, decisions about our future - our laws, our borders, our money and how we want to run the UK.

Those decisions will be taken in the UK by elected representatives of the people in the UK.

Iain Duncan Smith, the Tory Brexiter and former party leader, told the BBC’s Daily Politics that he had not decided yet whether he would vote for this deal. As the BBC reports, he explained:

I want to know how quickly can we get to a free trade agreement, how quickly can we therefore get out, what incentive is there for the EU to do this quickly? And is the political declaration exclusively for free trade?

MPs are now voting on the motion to sit on Saturday.

In the Commons MPs are now debating the government business motion saying they sit on Saturday.

Opening the debate Jacob Rees-Mogg, the leader of the Commons, said that Boris Johnson would make a statement to MPs on Saturday about the new Brexit agreement. Only after that statement would MPs start the debate on it.

Rees-Mogg said MPs would then vote either on a motion to back the deal or on one to approve no deal. He explained:

The debate that follows will be a motion to either approve a deal or to approve a no-deal exit.

That debate on one or other of those motions would run for up to 90 minutes under the existing rules of this house.

In the event of a motion to approve a deal, that motion, if passed, will meet the terms both of the European Union (Withdrawal) (No. 2) Act [aka, the Benn act] and of section 13 of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act.

The government has not published the motion it is tabling for Saturday.

The debate is scheduled to last 90 minutes.

Sir Oliver Letwin, the Tory former cabinet minister who has been leading efforts to ensure MPs block a no-deal Brexit, has tabled an amendment to the business motion allowing the debate on Saturday to last longer and also allowing more amendments to be put to a vote.

Rees-Mogg claimed that the Letwin amendment could actually shorten the debate because, if Johnson’s statement went on for hours, under the Letwin procedure there would be less than 90-minutes left for the main debate.

But John Bercow, the Speaker, contradicted Rees-Mogg. He said he had the discretion to allow the debate to over-run and he said there was “no way on Earth” he would let it be shortened in the way Rees-Mogg was suggesting.

The DUP has just issued this statement.

Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister in charge of no-deal planning, told Sky News that this deal was not a betrayal of the DUP. Asked if the government had thrown the DUP under the bus, he replied: “Absolutely not, this is a great deal.”

Asked what would happen if MPs rejected the deal on Saturday, he said: “We don’t contemplate defeat.”

This is from Sky’s Beth Rigby.

These are from my colleague Rajeev Syal, who was at the No 10 lobby briefing.

Q: What happens if the Northern Ireland assembly wants to stop accepting EU rules? And what is the solution on VAT?

On VAT, Barnier says an agreement was reached overnight. There was an issue with the need for consistency on VAT rates. A mechanism to ensure this was agreed. The EU system would apply in Northern Ireland. For businesses, it is logical to have consistency, as with the single market for goods.

On consent, he says the new protocol would be supported democratically. At the end of the transition period there would be a four-year period for the new arrangements to be in force. At the end of that the members of the Northern Ireland assembly would vote, on the basis of a simple majority, for the arrangement to continue for another four years. If there were a cross-community vote in favour, it would continue for eight years. If there were a vote to end the arrangements, there would be a two-year cooling off period.

He says this new approach has nothing to do with the old backstop. It sets up a system in Northern Ireland that is sustainable. It is linked to regular, democratic verification. There is ownership of this in Northern Ireland. We now must place our trust in the system, he says.

And that’s it. The press conference is over.

Q: The UK authorities will be able to apply their own tariffs, as long as there is no risk of goods entering the single market. How will that be established?

Barnier says there is a possibility that goods arriving from GB, or from a third country via GB, might not stay in the customs territory of NI. That risk exists. That is why both sides have come up with a mechanism to assess this risk. The assessment will be based on a number of criteria, overseen by a joint committee. What is the destination of the goods? Are they consumer goods or industrial goods? What is the value of the goods? What is the risk of an infringement?

Q: What was key turning point in the last week?

Barnier says the taoiseach had a special responsibility. The Irish government is a co-guarantor of the Good Friday agreement. He met Boris Johnson in Liverpool. And after that meeting the UK and the EU were able to make headway. They agreed there would be no customs checks in Ireland or Northern Ireland.

He says this new solution must be sustainable.

Q: If this does not get through parliament, is this as far as the EU goes?

Barnier says that is a hypothetical question.

He says Boris Johnson thinks it will pass.

He says he has always avoided talking on the basis of emotion and passion. He works on the basis of fact and objectivity. He has looked for practical solutions to the problems posed by Brexit.

He says in Northern Ireland a joint committee will have a mandate.

This is a balanced agreement, he says. He says it is “the best possible one”.

The backstop has been replaced with a new approach.

This justifies the consent procedure, he says.

He says this is a dynamic compromise between the UK and the EU.

Q: MPs have voted against a deal three times. Has Boris Johnson assured you he can get this through?

Barnier says he has some experience here. That is why is is being “cautious”.

The House of Commons will have to take its decision.

Barnier says he was an MP. He knows what it means to be a parliamentarian.

He says the agreement is “fair and reasonable”, to use Boris Johnson’s words. (See 10.36am.)

He says has never wanted to give a commentary on British political debate.

Barnier says the transition will last until the end of 2020. But it could last another year or two years, if there is joint agreement.

Barnier says citizens have always been, and will remain, the EU’s priority.

Uncertainty for them has been going on for too long, he says.

There is also certainty for groups getting funding from the EU budget. That is because financial commitments made by the EU28 will be honoured by the EU28.

He says there is more certainty for businesses.

This is from my colleague Jennifer Rankin in Brussels.

From ITV’s Robert Peston

From the Times’ Steven Swinford

From Sky’s Beth Rigby

Yesterday my colleagues Kate Proctor and Rowena Mason looked at Boris Johnson’s chances of getting his Brexit deal through the Commons. The numbers make it look difficult.

But the Spectator’s James Forsyth explains how Johnson significantly boost his chances of winning.

Here are extracts from the letter from Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European commission, to Donald Tusk, president of the European council. (See 10.38am.)

As regards the withdrawal agreement itself, negotiations focused on the protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland [ie, the backstop] and sought to identify a mutually satisfactory solution to address the specific circumstances on the island of Ireland. The negotiators also discussed the political declaration setting out the framework for the future relationship between the European Union and the United Kingdom. Their aim was to adjust the political declaration in a way that reflects the different level of ambition now sought by the government of the United Kingdom for the country’s future relationship with the European Union ...

I believe it is high time to complete the withdrawal process and move on, as swiftly as possible, to the negotiation on the European Union’s future partnership with the United Kingdom.

The pound has just surged through $1.29 against the US dollar, hitting a new five-month high.

Shares in UK housebuilders and banks are also rallying, as investors welcome the news that a Brexit deal has been agreed.

From RTE’s Tony Connelly

The Brussels press pack are all picking up the same message.

From the Times’ Brussels correspondent Bruno Waterfield.

From the Telegraph’s Brussels correspondent James Crisp

From my colleague Jennifer Rankin

The Jacob Rees-Mogg business statement will now start after 11am (see 10.05am) because there is an urgent question for age verification for pornographic websites first.

These are from RTE’s Tony Connelly in Brussels.

As a columnist on the Daily Telegraph Boris Johnson was notorious for always filing his column at the very last moment - often beyond what he had been told was the final deadline.

It now seems that the EU is getting much the same treatment.

This is from Sam McBride, political editor of the News Letter in Belfast on the DUP statement. (See 8.26am.)

More from my colleague Daniel Boffey in Brussels

These are from the Telegraph’s Brussels correspondent James Crisp.

From my colleague Daniel Boffey

From Reuters

Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay has arrived at 10 Downing Street, and did not respond to questions about securing an exit deal, the Press Association reports.

More from Tom the painter in Athens

“In the beginning there was Boris, then there was God. Gen II”: Not long after Greece’s own eurozone drama, graffiti appears in Athens, in the Plaka district beneath the Acropolis, immortalising the man who might save Britain from Brexit - described as a one-way street in the second picture.

Greece, which adopted punishing austerity to remain in the eurozone (and by extension the EU) has been watching the Brexit drama with thinly-veiled dismay.

The Guardian’s Greek correspondent Helena Smith can reveal that Tom, the painter of these works of art, is an Irishman who has long lived in the Plaka district.

The pound fell 0.5 per cent against the dollar and the euro within minutes of the announcement by the DUP just before 7am that the party cannot support the Brexit deal as it currently stands.

A pound was worth 1.2759 dollars and 1.1525 euros.

If you are wondering what exactly is in the deal, our Brussels correspondent Jennifer Rankin got a briefing last night.

There is a potentially pivotal day ahead with the EU summit ahead of Saturday’s deadline to prevent a delay to Brexit.

Boris Johnson is on his way to Brussels this morning.

Our Brexit correspondent Lisa O’Carroll on the DUP’s decision.

Good morning everyone. More reaction to the DUP’s statement.

That’s it from me, I’m handing over to my colleague Nadeem Badshah.

For those of you who missed this, late last night Louise Ellman, Labour MP for Liverpool Riverside, announced she was leaving the Labour Party because she could “no longer advocate voting Labour when it risks Corbyn becoming PM”.

Dame Louise, 73, who is Jewish, said she had been “deeply troubled” by the “growth of anti-Semitism” in Labour in recent years.

She told the Times newspaper that if he became prime minister “I believe that Jeremy Corbyn would be a danger to the country, a danger to the Jewish community as well, but a danger to the country too”.

Lord Adonis is up and tweeting early, as he often does. He is reiterating his view that Johnson will end up being forced to ask the EU for an extension beyond 31 October.

How the papers covered it

A photograph of Boris Johnson walking behind a metal fence, which gives the unfortunate impression that the prime minster was behind bars, provided a visual metaphor too good for most publications to pass up and it is the lead image on most of the front pages.

The Telegraph really pushes the image, its slightly baffling headline is: “Brexit is like the Shawshank Redemption... but now we can see the light”. The Daily Express has: “Against all odds, Boris closes in on Brexit deal”, the Times reports: “Brexit deal on knife edge as DUP blocks Johnson”, the Mail says: “In sight of the summit”, the Guardian has: “Johnson in last-minute scramble for DUP backing”, the Mirror goes with: “Brexit on a knife-edge”, the i’s splash is: “Deadlock on Brexit deal ahead of summit”.

Boris Johnson is in a race against time to secure the Democratic Unionist party’s backing for his newly negotiated Brexit deal as EU leaders said they were ready to approve the agreement on Thursday if the prime minister succeeds.

Plans to publish a full legal text ahead of the leaders’ summit had to be put on hold to the frustration of EU officials after the DUP raised a series of objections to the tentative agreement.

With time short, Johnson told a meeting of Conservative MPs he was hopeful of a deal but it felt like he was on the Hillary Step of Mount Everest while the summit was “shrouded in mist”.

The prime minister appeared to have the party’s hardline Eurosceptics onboard, including Steve Baker, who said Johnson had briefed them that the whole of the UK was leaving the customs union. But they also added a note of caution that they could not vote for any Brexit deal without seeing a legal text. The 21 former Tory MPs who have recently lost their whip could also rebel.

An issue over VAT was said by Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator, to be a last-minute obstacle in the negotiations when he briefed European ambassadors on Wednesday night. But the British objection was described by EU diplomats as a “British smokescreen” to give Downing Street more time to win over the DUP’s leader, Arlene Foster.

Good (very early!) morning to everyone.

We’re up with the sparrows because there is talk that Boris Johnson might make an early-morning dash to Brussels to get his Brexit deal done.

This would require the support of the Democratic Unionist Party, who have raised serious concerns with the deal. But, if the DUP come around and agree to support the deal, Johnson can then take it back to EU leaders who are meeting in Brussels today, who have said they will give political agreement to it during their summit. They will still need to have the text scrutinised before giving formal approval and it also remains to be seen whether the UK parliament will agree to the deal on Saturday, when they are sitting to vote on the potential deal.

No one knows what will happen and we’ve all been round the Brexit deal merry-go-round more times we care to remember, but there’s a sense that today could be a BIG MOMENT in this journey.

I will be shepherding us all through the Brexit news for the first few hours before I hand over to my colleagues, who will take you through the rest of the day.

Thanks for reading along, especially at such an outrageously early hour, please get in touch via Twitter or email (kate.lyons@theguardian.com).