Brexit: 'Entire machinery of government' focused on a deal, home secretary says
The prime minister said on Friday that he was"cautiously optimistic" of getting a Brexit deal, but the UK would leave by the deadline"whatever happens".
This is despite MPs passing a new law that would force the prime minister to ask the EU for an extension to that deadline if a deal wasn't agreed by 19 October - two days after a key EU summit. Mr Johnson is due to meet European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker in Luxembourg this week as negotiations continue.
Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay said a"landing zone" was in sight for an agreement with the EU, and a"huge amount has been happening behind the scenes".What's the deal?"I hope the country has heard [Mr Johnson's] sheer commitment and determination to ensure that we leave on 31 October, and also that the entire machinery of government now is focused on getting that deal and is planning and preparing to leave with a deal.
Reports suggested Mr Johnson and his team were considering a plan to keep Northern Ireland more closely aligned to the EU after Brexit, which they hoped would remove the need for the Irish backstop - the policy in the existing withdrawal agreement to prevent a hard border returning to the island of Ireland.
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