Brexit secretary Dominic Raab ‘confident’ UK will reach deal with EU by October
Brexit secretary Dominic Raab has said he is “confident” the UK will reach an exit deal with the European Union by October.
Speaking at a joint press conference with the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier in Brussels, Raab said the two sides had the “ambition, pragmatism and energy” to reach a deal – but admitted there were “still gaps” in some areas.
Raab and Barnier said the focus points of the discussions were avoiding a hard border in Northern Ireland, outstanding issues relating to the withdrawal agreement and a political declaration on the future trading relationship between the two sides.
The pound was up 0.52 per cent against the US dollar at $1.2863 after the conference.
However, Barnier hinted there may be some leeway with the October deadline, saying a deal would be reach by November, "but no later than that".
Raab is in Brussels as part of a renewed effort to move the negotiations on after months of inaction. He said he would be meeting his counterpart against next week as part of regular meetings between the two.
When asked by reporters what the likelihood of a no-deal Brexit was, Raab said the "hair-raising scare stories" were "very far" from the truth, while Barnier said the EU would not be "intimidated" by a "no-deal blame game" against the EU.
He said that while the EU respected the decision of the UK to leave the bloc, the EU would not compromise the integrity of the single market.
He said the challenge was to to identify an "ambitious partnership with the UK that has no precedent".