Barnier press conference: "Those who were hoping for negotiations to move swiftly this week will be disappointed...
"I frankly am disappointed, concerned, and surprised as the British prime minister told us in June that he wanted to speed up the process during the summer"
David Frost says "little progress" in this week's talks
"agreement is still possible, and it is still our goal, but it is clear that it will not be easy to achieve"
He says the EU insistence on parallelism is making talks "unnecessarily difficult"
Next formal round w/c Sept 7
Barnier says based on the current state of play, striking a trade deal before the end of transition is "unlikely"
"I simply do not understand why we are wasting valuable time"
He says there was "no progress whatsoever" on fisheries and "still far" from agreement on governance
A UK negotiating official suggests last night's Frost/Barnier meal was a bit tense
They had "courteous and friendly discussions" in which they "didn't hide the significant differences between our positions"
The UK side says its EU insistence on parallelism that is wasting time
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Exclusive: Nearly half of people (47%) want the UK to have a closer relationship with the EU, while 14% want to be further apart, according to a @Savanta_UK poll for @politicshome
It's the latest evidence of growing public support for a softer Brexit
The poll also found support for closer ties with the EU among 2016 Leave voters...
30% closer, 18% further away
"There's definitely a sense that the process has been bungled and that the benefits which Leavers were promised haven't really materialised" - Savanta's Chris Hopkins
Nearly a third of people believe Brexit is the *primary* reason for labour shortages in the UK, the @Savanta_UK / @politicshome poll found
Just over a third of Leave voters said the UK's EU exit was a reason for ongoing gaps in the workforce
I’m kicking off my Tory conference at a @CapX / @CPSThinkTank fringe event titled: ‘Can the Tories win the next election?’. Polling guru @jamesjohnson252 says that in recent days “the title of this panel has become easier to answer.”
.@jamesjohnson252 says that up until the Truss/Kwarteng statement the Tories still had a decent shot of winning the next general election. But something “very big” and “drastic” has happened since then: the Tory party has rapidly lost its reputation for economic competence
.@jamesjohnson252 says “it’s very hard to see how” the Tories stay in power at the next general election
A source close to Gullis said: “The Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement and its interaction with the ECHR clearly has to be respected as it is integral to the peace and prosperity of Northern Ireland...
... However, it is also evident that the overall role of the European Courts in the UK needs further consideration in light of their interventions in the UK’s own border policy last night which Government believes is entirely legal and in line with its international obligations"
.@SirJJQC: "How can an agreement willingly entered into only in 2020, at what the PM described as a 'fantastic moment', be already proving so disastrous as to represent “grave peril” to the country?
"The government statement provides no evidence for such an extreme conclusion"
He continues: "The bill – assuming it is eventually passed – is likely to take many months to get through parliament.
"If the UK really did face imminent peril, you might think the government would need to deal with it more quickly than that"
Exclusive: Material leaked to @politicshome this weekend sets up an almighty row when the government publishes its Northern Ireland Protocol legislation, expected tomorrow...
Tory MPs who oppose government's Protocol plan have this weekend been sharing this briefing doc setting out why they intend to vote against it
It says the bill is "damaging to everything the UK and Conservatives stand for" & "breaks international law"
The briefing, which is being shared by Tory rebels ahead of the bill being published, adds:
"Protecting our precious Union means persuading the moderate centre ground. We are alienating them by pursuing a reckless Bill that is toxic to the very swing voters the Union depends on"
Exclusive: Correspondence leaked to @politicshome shows concern at the top of government over the legality of the Northern Ireland Protocol legislation
A senior figure advising government believes the UK case is not credible and "very difficult" to argue