Day: December 5, 2017

    Theresa May seeks to rescue Brexit deal as Dublin says it won't back down. In theory, all it needs is one last heave to get over the line in time for a formal sign-off at next week’s European council summit. Both the commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, and Theresa May are publicly hopeful of reaching draft consensus again by Friday. They were within minutes of a deal on Monday, before the Democratic Unionist party sounded the alarm and put everything on hold. In practice, the last-minute hitch changes everything for a number of reasons: Cards have been shown The first problem is that all sides have shown their hand. The Dublin government has admitted precisely what form of words is enough to provide assurance on the Irish border and anything less will now be seen by...

    Armed soldier and armed police officer patrol outside Westminster Palace A total of nine terrorist attacks have been prevented in the UK in the past year, MI5 has said. MI5 has previously said that 13 terror attacks were prevented in the past four years. The director general of the UK's domestic security service, Andrew Parker, told the Cabinet of the number of prevented attacks this morning, according to Downing Street. Aftermath Of The London Bridge Terror Attacks Mr Parker told Theresa May that the defeat of Islamic State in Syria did not mean that the terrorist threat was over. He warned that social media was being used to incite terrorist attacks from afar. The numbers have been released ahead of the publication of an investigation into the internal reviews by the sec...

    In Brussels, as in life, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Theresa May wants the big prize of the EU finally talking about a post-Brexit trade deal. The cost comes in the shape of hard cash, citizens’ rights and a fudge for Northern Ireland. After a strange day of political anti-climax, the big question remains whether hardline Tory Brexiteers and the DUP think the last of those compromises is a price worth paying. With so much riding on the outcome, it wasn’t a surprise that there were competing narratives and expectations ahead of the PM’s working lunch with Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. The day began with Brussels talking up chances of a breakthrough, with one EU official saying both sides were 90% there. London was much more guarded, insisting the ...

    Theresa May has four days to salvage Brexit deal or faces leadership threat The British prime minister reportedly has until the end of the week to rescue the Brexit deal scuppered by the Democratic Unionist Party party propping up her government, or face a leadership challenge. Theresa May will hold urgent talks on Tuesday (5 December) with DUP leader, Arlene Foster, who vetoed the Brexit deal over concerns that Northern Ireland would have a different post-Brexit status than the rest of the UK. Before opposing the deal on Monday (4 December), it emerged that DUP leader Foster only knew the outline of the Brexit document, but not the wording that specified how Northern Ireland could effectively remain in the customs union and the single market. And while the prime minister ...