Daily Mail - 30.08.2019

Page  QQQ Daily Mail, Friday, August 30, 2019

INSIDE: Puzzles & Prizes 45-48, TV & Radio 58-61,

Cainer & Offer 6, Letters 64 & 65, City 77-

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By Jason Groves Political Editor

it is now time for both sides to

step up the tempo. The

increase in meetings and dis-

cussions is necessary if we are

to have a chance of agreeing a

deal for when we leave on

October 31, no ifs no buts.’

His decision to step up nego-

tiations will be seen as an

attempt to persuade waver-

ing MPs not to join rebel

efforts next week aimed at

forcing him to seek a further

Brexit delay. However, gov-

ernment sources insisted

week. A note circulated among

EU officials after the meeting

said Mr Frost had ‘stressed

very strongly that the new

Prime Minister was seeking a

deal... but that he was not

frightened of No Deal’.

Mr Frost will return to Brus-

sels twice a week, starting

next week, to agree ‘alterna-

tive arrangements’ for keep-

ing open the Irish border with-

out the need for the backstop,

which critics say would lock

the UK into a customs union.

Mr Johnson told the Cabinet

this week that there was a

‘good chance’ that he would

secure a deal but also a ‘good

chance’ that he would not.

He insisted progress

depended on making clear that

the UK would leave on Octo-

ber 31 regardless. Ministers

were also told it would make a

‘huge difference’ to negotia-

tions if the threat of MPs block-

ing No Deal was finally lifted.

there was growing optimism

that a last-minute deal could

be possible at a crunch EU

summit in October, days after

Parliament resumes.

One source said that although

the two sides remained ‘some

distance apart on key issues’ –

notably the backstop – there

were signs that both sides

were ‘willing to work hard to

find a way through’.

The development follows

‘positive’ talks between Mr

Johnson’s EU adviser, David

Frost, and EU officials this

Clarifications & corrections

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You can also write to Readers’

Editor, Daily Mail, 2 Derry

Street, London W8 5TT or

contact IPSO directly at ipso.

co.uk

AN ArTIClE on August 21

said that the former head of the

Hong Kong government leung

Chun-ying had sent a letter to

UK politicians warning them to

stop being ‘disrespectful’ over

tensions in the territory. While

the letter was sent in his name,

Mr leung has since asked us to

put on record his position that

n the letter – which had no date,

signature, or return address –

was neither written nor sent on

his authority, and will be sub-

ject to a complaint to Hong

Kong police.

PAGES

Battle for Brexit 10-

BOrIS Johnson last night

ordered officials to ‘step up

the tempo’ of talks with Brus-

sels, amid rising hopes of a

Brexit breakthrough.

After a summer with few formal

negotiations, British officials will

now hold talks with their EU

counterparts twice a week

throughout September, with the

option of further meetings if

progress is made.

After Mr Johnson became Prime

Minister in July, Downing Street said

he would not engage in negotiations

unless the EU agreed to drop its

insistence that any deal must include

the controversial Irish backstop.

But, following ‘encouraging’ talks

in recent weeks with Angela Merkel,

Emmanuel Macron and Donald Tusk,

the Prime Minister said he believed

it was time to intensify negotiations.

‘We are ready to work in an ener-

getic and determined way to get a deal

done,’ Mr Johnson said yesterday.

‘While I have been encouraged

with my discussions with EU lead-

ers that there is a willingness to talk

about alternatives to the backstop,

Caught out: Mr Wallace and Mrs Parly

DEFENCE Secretary Ben Wallace was

caught telling a French minister that

Boris Johnson is suspending Parliament

because he has ‘no majority’.

Asked about the decision to prorogue

the Commons before the Queen’s Speech

in mid-October, he told Florence Parly at

a meeting in Helsinki: ‘We’ve suddenly

found ourselves with no majority and in a

coalition, that’s not easy for our system.

‘Parliament has been very good at say-

ing what it doesn’t want, but it has been

awful at saying what it wants. Eventually

any leader has to, you know, try.’

The comments – made inches away

from a TV camera – infuriated colleagues

in Downing Street, who insist the sus-

pension is designed to allow Mr Johnson

to bring forward a new domestic agenda

and nothing to do with preventing MPs

from blocking a No Deal Brexit.

A No 10 source said: ‘The Defence Sec-

retary misspoke and was not involved in

discussions about the Queen’s Speech.’

SNP MP Stewart McDonald said: ‘Ben

Wallace has let the cat out of the bag

and confirmed what we all knew. In a

way he’s done us a public service.’

By Political Editor

Has minister

given the

game away?

Now Boris steps

up talks with EU

Royal Treasure Hunt

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