Thread by @nick_gutteridge

MSM reporting for duty here 🙋‍♂️Tytti Tuppurainen, representing the Finnish presidency of the EU Council, kicks off today's EU Parliament Brexit debate by warning: 'We have to acknowledge that currently a No Deal on 31 October is a quite likely outcome.'

She says: 'In July, the UK got a new Govt and a new PM. Unfortunately it is increasingly clear that this has not helped to clarify the situation on the UK's negotiation position. As the deadline of Oct 31 is fast approaching we are faced with more rather than less uncertainty.'

Jean-Claude says that at his meeting with Boris Johnson the UK PM 'assured us he continues to want an agreement but whatever happens the UK will leave the EU on the 31 October with or without an agreement. That's why the risk of a No Deal is palpable.'

Michel Barnier has smuggled an espresso into the chamber. Well, it is rather early to be wanging on about Brexit.

Juncker: 'The risk of a No Deal remains real and is going to come down to a decision by the UK Govt that will never be the choice of the EU. That's why it's better now to focus on what we can do in terms of concluding that deal, something which is desirable and still possible.'

Juncker: 'I said to PM Johnson I have no emotional attachment to the backstop but I stand by the objectives it's designed to achieve. I called on the PM to come forward with operational proposals in writing for practical steps which would allow us to achieve those objectives.'

Juncker: 'Until such time as those proposals have been presented I will not be able to tell you any real progress has been achieved. But, and this runs counter to many press articles in the UK, I can tell you the talks we had were friendly, constructive and in parts positive.'

Juncker: 'The Commission is prepared to work day, in day out, from morning until night, to try and find the technical and political solutions we need but I'm not sure we'll get there. There's very little time remaining, but what I do know is that we need to keep trying.'

Michel Barnier, pepped up by his espresso, takes over from Juncker. He says: 'The new UK Government in Luxembourg outlined the aspects of the backstop which they don't like. That's not enough however to move towards achieving a solution. We need a legally operative solution.'

Barnier: 'We understand the remarks of the UK PM on the democratic or non-democratic nature of the backstop. But it is up to the UK Government to ensure the support of the Northern Ireland institutions to the Withdrawal Agreement that would be signed on behalf of all of the UK.'

Barnier: 'The UK Government wishes to revisit the commitments made by Theresa May in the area of Level Playing Field. We need to state that the level of ambition of a future agreement that we'd negotiate with the UK will clearly depend upon the guarantees that we will have.'

Barnier: 'I would recommend that nobody underestimate the consequences of No Deal for the UK first and foremost obviously but for us as well in the absence of an agreement. The consequences of Brexit aren't theoretical. They are considerable.'

Barnier: 'Almost three years after the UK referendum I don't think that we should be spending time pretending to negotiate. I think we need to move forward with determination.'

MEPs Brexit coordinator Guy Verhofstadt: 'The British parliament may be shut down but we are clearly showing today with this debate the EU is not. It's fantastic the Brexit Party and Mr Farage are making so much noise because they can't do it in Westminster anymore.'

Verhofstadt: 'There are examples of people living one, even two decades in Britain who cannot Settled Status. We need a fundamental shift. What we don't need is a bureaucratic application as it is now. What we need from the UK Govt is an automatic registration of our citizens.'

Verhofstadt says: 'Boris Johnson likes to compare himself to movie characters. Concering citizens rights instead of playing the angry Hulk, I think he should inspire himself by another character - the caring nanny in the film of Mrs Doubtfire.'

Verhofstadt: 'To limit the backstop to agriculture products, it's not enough. A backstop cannot be unilaterally ended by Stormont. That's not a safety net but will be a permanent instrument for blackmailing during the coming negotiations. A safety net needs to be a safety net.'

Verhofstadt: 'I know there are some people in Britain who think these Europeans at the end of the negotiation will give in. That's maybe possible, but we are not stupid. We'll defend our economy. We'll defend our single market. We'll never accept a Singapore by the North Sea.'

Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage says the 'emollient' tone from Juncker and Barnier today indicates a deal on the backstop will be done on Oct 17. He says it has been the EU's intention from the start 'to keep us inside the Customs Union'.

Farage: 'This treaty even without the backstop is a very bad deal. It'll leave us trapped inside EU rules, under the auspices of the European court and having given everything away the worst part is any future relationship relies on good faith. We put ourselves at your mercy.'

Farage continues: 'I'd suggest that events we've seen this week don't indicate that good faith exists. I'm referring to the pip-squeak PM of Luxembourg who set out to ritually humiliate a British PM in the most astonishing way only to be greeted like a hero by President Macron.'

Farage ends: 'The fear is the UK breaks out of the Customs Union, out of Single Market rules and we become more competitive and much wealthier outside the EU. The only way forward is for a clean break Brexit. Once we've done that we'll have a grown up conversation about trade.'