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11 Oct 2019

Intense Brexit: EU agrees to ‘intensify’ negotiations with the UK over Brexit

Senior Political Correspondent

Getting stuck in a tunnel is usually something to avoid, but not in the strange world of EU and Brexit diplomacy.

Entering the tunnel is a good thing. It means a select group of negotiating partners huddle to iron out the final details of a deal.

So at the end of a week of despair what is now happening?

After yesterday’s seemingly positive meeting between the Prime Minister and the Irish Taoiseach, Michel Barnier now says ‘technical discussions’ are intensifying ‘in a constructive spirit’.

It all hinges once again on Northern Ireland and Boris Johnson has refused to rule out the possibility of Northern Ireland staying inside the EU customs union.