Irish PM: May to present new text on border deal 'tonight or tomorrow' – as it happened

I am closing this liveblog now. Thanks so much for joining us today.

Here’s a roundup of what happened this evening:

• Theresa May has told Leo Varadkar, the Irish taoiseach, she is “working hard to find a specific solution to the unique circumstances in Northern Ireland” and is committed to “moving together to achieve a positive result on this”.
  
• The DUP have said it is continuing to hold talks with the government to find a solution to the Irish border question, saying “There is still plenty of work to be done.”
• In a press conference with the Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte, Varadkar said Theresa May would be coming back to them with text on the Irish border “tonight or tomorrow” and that she hopes for a deal next week. He also flatly denied accusations that he stopped the DUP seeing the text of the Brexit border deal which was due to be sealed on Monday.
  
• David Davis appears to have escaped censure from MPs after the Brexit committee split on party lines over whether to formally criticise him, following a chaotic appearance in which he said that dozens of economic impact assesssments he had been told to publish did not, in fact, exist. Both Chuka Umunna and David Lammy have written to the speaker of the house demanding action.
• A group of 19 Tory MPs have co-signed a letter urging Theresa May to ignore those in the party suggesting that she walk away from the negotiating table, which they say is “highly irresponsible”. The letter condemns their Eurosceptic colleagues who “seek to dictate terms” which could lead to Britain leaving the European Union with no deal.
• The government has won the latest Commons votes over key Brexit legislation. Majorities ranging from 20 to 28 helped ministers ensure the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill remains unamended after five days of MPs examining it line by line, although further battles await in the final three days before Christmas.
• Lord Bassam, Labour’s chief whip in the House of Lords, will stand down in the New Year after questions were raised about his expenses claims.

My colleagues Daniel Boffey, Lisa O’Carroll and Rowena Mason have the full report on today’s events.

Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, has told member states that the British government has just 48 hours to agree a text on a potential deal or it will be told that negotiations will not move on to the next stage.

Barnier informed EU ambassadors that Downing Street had told him a potential solution was being worked out that could possibly satisfy both Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist party and the Republic of Ireland, but that it had yet to be signed off by any of those involved.

Another meeting of diplomats of the 27 member states has been pencilled in for Friday evening, should the UK find an agreement with the DUP on a solution to avoiding a hard border on the island of Ireland.

Lord Bassam will quit his job as Labour’s chief whip in the House of Lords in the New Year after questions were raised about his expenses claims, a Labour Lords source has said.

The government has won the latest Commons votes over key Brexit legislation, amid warnings that dissident republicans would target border officials if there is no deal.

Majorities ranging from 20 to 28 helped ministers ensure the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill remains unamended after five days of MPs examining it line by line, although further battles await in the final three days before Christmas.

Independent MP Lady Hermon had attracted Conservative support for her proposal to make the commitment to the principles of the Good Friday Agreement clearer in the Bill although she later decided against forcing a vote.

Her decision came after Brexit minister Robin Walker offered to meet her to discuss the issue further and also urged her to work with the Government to ensure the agreement is “respected as we moved forward”.

Lady Hermon opened proceedings by issuing a direct warning to Tory MPs about the consequences of a hard border, which she argued would “inevitably” exist between Northern Ireland and the Republic if the UK and EU failed to agree a deal.

DUP MP Ian Paisley said the government is clear in its support for the Good Friday Agreement, adding: “It’d be wrong to add it to this Bill.”

MPs later switched their attention to the Brexit divorce bill, defeating opposition proposals linked to this.

Debate finished shortly before 8pm - well ahead of the scheduled 9.14pm finish before the final three votes.

The Bill will return to the Commons next week for further scrutiny.

6 Dec 201716.08 EST

Lisa O'Carroll

Here’s a little more from my colleague Lisa O’Carroll in Dublin.

Varadkar flatly denied accusations that he stopped the DUP seeing the text of the Brexit border deal which was due to sealed on Monday.

Asked if he had discussed it with May in his phone call today, he replied:

I didn’t discuss it with Theresa May, I didn’t need to because I know it isn’t true.

I can assure you that no such instruction was given by the Irish government nor do I think the UK would obey such an instruction.. that’s obviously untrue.

6 Dec 201716.03 EST

Theresa May will provide fresh text on the Irish border “tonight or tomorrow”.

Lisa O'Carroll

Fresh and urgent moves to salvage the Brexit negotiations were underway on Wednesday night after Theresa May told the Irish prime minister she will come back with fresh text on the Irish border “tonight or tomorrow”.

The Taoiseach Leo Varadkar revealed that there was “room to manoeuvre” the deal into the right position before the European council summit next week.

View image in fullscreen

He told reporters in Dublin at a press conference with the Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte:

Having consulted with people in London [May] wants to come back to us with text tonight and tomorrow. And I expect to move forward as well – I want us to move forward if it’s possible next week.

I explained my position to her, she explained her position to me. It was a very good call. We were willing to look at any proposals the UK have.

While we were willing to consider them, we believe the one we had on Monday would work for Ireland and had to be assured that any new language would be consistent with that.

Varadkar said he “agreed to look at any text with a positive and open” attitude and opened the possibility of a truce with the Democratic Unionist Party with what appeared to be a soft interpretation of what “regulatory alignment” might mean between Northern Ireland and Ireland post Brexit.

He said that regulatory alignment, which is one of three options for a post Brexit border arrangement in the Brussels deal, did not apply to “everything”, merely areas of “north south” activity.

He said that there was already regulatory divergence on the island – for instance fireworks are legal in Northern Ireland but not in the republic.

Rutte said the EU was “working very hard” to move forward, but it could not without a deal on the Irish border.

He said:

We cannot just say because we need a soft Brexit that we will somehow compromise on some of these things on the table, citizens rights, the ex-bill, the border.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has dismissed Arlene Foster’s claim that Ireland didn’t want her to see border deal text. He was speaking at the press conference with the Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte, which my colleague Lisa O’Carroll is reporting from.

Jobs will be moved out of Britain unless Theresa May secures progress in Brexit negotiations at next week’s summit of European Union leaders, a leading business lobbying group will warn.

The CBI will say more than half (60%) of firms with Brexit contingency plans will activate them by Easter, meaning jobs leaving the UK, unless the December 14-15 European Council summit green-lights trade and transition talks.

On Wednesday evening, CBI president Paul Drechsler will say companies will move jobs or shift production if they have to and will begin making their “no turning back” decisions in the first quarter of 2018.

In a speech to the City of London Corporation, he will say:

Today, Brexit uncertainty looms over almost every aspect of doing business in the UK. Every day, companies are having to plan for the worst while hoping for the best. They are making choices that will determine new jobs, new plants and new investments in the years ahead. Businesses will press snooze for as long as they can - but the alarm will go off.

No company wants to move jobs or shift production - but business will if it has to. No-one wants to leave their homes or jobs - but EU citizens will if they feel they are no longer wanted.

And we know that financial services firms start making their ‘no turning back’ decisions in the first quarter of 2018. There’s no time to waste. In the immediate term, business needs to know the details of any transition deal - Rome is burning on that issue.

And we need progress at the EU council next week or 60% of firms with contingency plans will have put these into effect by Easter. That means jobs leaving the UK - in most cases irreversibly.

My colleague Lisa O’Carroll is in Ireland where a press conference between Leo Varadkar and the Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte is taking place following their meeting.

The taoiseach says Theresa May “wants to come back to us with text tonight or tomorrow” and that she hopes for a deal next week.

We’ll have more on this shortly.

Another Labour MP, this time David Lammy, has written to speaker John Bercow regarding David Davis.

He says he has called for Bercow to initiate the contempt of parliament proceeding. It will be interesting to see whether the speaker takes any action given the vote taken by the Brexit committee earlier.

The DUP have said it is continuing to hold talks with the government to find a solution to the Irish border question.

A party spokesman said:

There is still plenty of work to be done. The (government and DUP) teams in London are continuing to work through the detail.

It is understood Arlene Foster has no immediate plans to fly to London for talks with Theresa May and any such move would depend on progress in talks.

A group of 19 Tory MPs have co-signed a letter urging Theresa May to ignore those in the party suggesting that she walk away from the negotiating table, which they say is “highly irresponsible”.

The letter condemns their Eurosceptic colleagues who “seek to dictate terms” which could lead to Britain leaving the European Union with no deal.

The signatories, who include former cabinet ministers Nicky Morgan, Stephen Crabb and Dominic Grieve, say those who suggest leaving the EU without an exit or trade deal with the UK are “deliberately” missing warnings of the uncertainty expats would face, higher prices for consumers and disruption at the border.

The MPs say:

We also wish to make it clear that we are disappointed that, yet again, some MPs and others seek to impose their own conditions on these negotiations. In particular it is highly irresponsible to seek to dictate terms which could lead to the UK walking away from these negotiations.

Those who say that if such an outcome happens the UK will ‘revert to World Trade Organisation’ rules deliberately make it sound as if this is some status quo which the UK simply opts to adopt.

They miss the many business and other voices who have made it clear that a ‘no deal’ post March 2019 scenario would lead to great uncertainty for EU citizens living here and UK citizens living in the EU, higher costs and reduced choice for consumers, disruption at our ports and borders and grave questions about how cross-border contracts are to be fulfilled.

The Secretary of State for Exiting the EU has said that the Article 50 negotiations are the most important in the UK’s modern history. We agree and urge you to take whatever time is necessary to get the next stage of the UK’s relationship with the EU right.

Faisal Islam from Sky News has tweeted out these images of the letter:

Labour MP Chuka Umunna has written to John Bercow, the speaker of the house of commons calling for action on whether David Davis has misled the house.

The BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg says that 20 Tory MPs have written to the prime minister about their pro-Brexit colleagues.

Here’s her tweet on the contents of the letter: