Talks will now move on to the long-term relationship between the UK and EU.

The first issue to be discussed, at talks next month, will be the terms of an expected two-year transition phase after the UK’s March 2019 exit.

Theresa May welcomed the move as an “important step on the road” to ensuring a “smooth and orderly” exit.

While acknowledging “very significant progress” had been made, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the next phase would be “even tougher”.

Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, tweeted the news that the 27 EU leaders were happy to move onto phase two after they met in Brussels.

He congratulated UK Prime Minister Mrs May on reaching what the BBC’s political editor Laura Kuenssberg said was a major moment in the Brexit process.

Mrs May has said she wants both sides to approach the next phase of negotiations, which will determine the long-term shape of the UK relations with the EU, with “creativity and ambition”.

The EU has published its guidelines for phase two of the negotiations, with discussions on future economic co-operation not likely to begin until March.

But EU members can begin internal discussions about their future relationship with the UK now, which Downing Street is understood to be pleased about.

The three page document says the UK will remain under the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice and be required to permit freedom of movement during any transition period.

And agreements on the Irish border, the so-called divorce bill and the rights of EU and UK citizens, agreed by Mrs May last Friday, must be “respected in full and translated faithfully into legal terms as quickly as possible”.

‘End state’

The document says: “As the UK will continue to participate in the customs union and the single market during the transition, it will have to continue to comply with EU trade policy.”

On trade, it says while the EU is willing to engage in “preliminary and preparatory discussions” as part of building a “close partnership” after the UK’s departure any formal agreement “can only be finalised and concluded once the UK has become a third country”.

The document “calls on the UK to provide further clarity on its position on the framework for the future relationship”.

And in a passage added during the past week, it invites the EU’s negotiator Michel Barnier to “continue internal preparatory discussions, including on the scope of the framework for the future relationship” rather than having to wait until March.

Mr Juncker said on Friday that the EU’s initial priority was to “formalise the agreement” that had been reached before moving forward, adding “the second phase will be significantly harder and the first was very difficult”.

French President Emmanuel Macron said in moving forward the EU had maintained its unity, protected the integrity of the single market and ensured “compliance with our own rules”.

Mrs May is set to discuss her vision of the “end-state” for the UK outside the EU at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, having suffered her first Commons Brexit defeat earlier this week.

Brexit Secretary David Davis said the government was “ready for the next stage”.

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He said it was not “legally enforceable” and if the UK failed to get a trade deal with the EU then it would not pay its divorce bill.

But he stressed that the UK was committed to keeping a “frictionless and invisible” Irish border.

And it would “find a way” to do this if there was a “no deal” Brexit.

The Brexit secretary also stressed that the odds of the UK exiting without a deal had “dropped dramatically” following Friday’s joint EU-UK statement in Brussels.

And he spelled out the kind of trade deal he wanted with the EU, describing it as “Canada plus plus plus”.

‘Hard border’

Canada’s deal with the EU, signed last year, removes the vast majority of customs duties on EU exports to Canada and Canadian exports to the EU.

But Mr Davis said it did not include trade in services, something he wanted to see in the UK’s “bespoke” deal with the EU.

Chancellor Philip Hammond has previously suggested the Brexit divorce bill – which the Treasury says will be between £35bn and £39bn – will be paid even if no EU trade deal is struck. Labour has also said it would continue to pay into the EU if there was no deal.

Prime Minister Theresa May signed an agreement on Friday ruling out the return of a “hard border” on the island of Ireland, protecting the rights of EU and UK citizens and agreeing a formula for the divorce bill.

EU leaders are now expected to recommend starting the next phase of Brexit talks at a summit on Thursday.

But Mr Davis stressed Friday’s agreement was conditional on achieving an “overarching” trade deal with the EU, agreements on security and foreign affairs, as well as the two year transition period the UK wants after if officially leaves the EU in March 2019.

Friday’s agreement includes a fallback position if the UK fails to get a trade deal, which proposes full regulatory “alignment” between the EU and the UK.

This clause had been diluted at the insistence of the Democratic Unionist Party, which fears Northern Ireland would be separated from the rest of the UK, and move closer to Ireland, if it had to adopt EU rules to keep goods flowing across the border.

‘Non-binding’

But there is still controversy, and confusion, over what “full alignment” would mean in practice, with some Brexiteers fearing the UK would have to continue to abide by EU regulations on agriculture and other issues after Brexit and would not be able to strike its own trade deals.

Mr Davis has said “full alignment” would apply to the whole of the UK, not just Northern Ireland, but the Sunday Telegraph said Conservative Brexiteers had been reassured that it was “non-binding” and had been included to secure Ireland’s backing for the deal.

Pushed to explain what it meant, Mr Davis told Andrew Marr: “We want to protect the peace process and we also want to protect Ireland from the impact of Brexit for them. This was a statement of intent more than anything else.”

He added: “I think if we don’t get a deal we’re going to have to find a way of making sure we keep the frictionless border – as it were an invisible border – in Northern Ireland.”

The UK’s opposition Labour party has ruled out remaining in the EU single market and customs union if it wins power.

But the party’s shadow Brexit Secretary Sir Keir Starmer said he wanted a partnership with the EU that “retains the benefits of the single market and the customs union”.

Labour’s position

Asked if Theresa May’s deal would mean Britain would stay very close to the single market and the customs union, he said: “Yes, and I think that’s the right thing and I think we should hold her to that because that goes to the heart of the question what sort of Britain do we want to be?

“Do we see Europe as our major trading partner in the future or do we want to rip ourselves apart from that?”

Asked if Britain would have to carry on paying some money in, he said: “Norway pays money in, they do it actually on a voluntary basis… there may have to be payments, that’s to be negotiated.”

Labour’s shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry said she “really didn’t understand” Theresa May’s agreement with Brussels.

“I don’t understand how, on the one hand, she is going to align and other hand we are going to be out of the single market and the customs union. It doesn’t really make any sense to me,” she told the BBC’s Sunday Politics.

The Labour leadership has rejected offers from the Liberal Democrats and the Scottish National Party to join forces to push Theresa May to keep the UK in the single market.

They say this is not what people voted for in last year’s EU referendum and the UK needed a “custom” trade deal that retained some form of customs union membership.

Lib Dem Brexit spokesman Tom Brake said: “The Cabinet truce on Brexit after the first phase agreement on Friday lasted a matter of hours.

“First, [Micheal] Gove hints strongly at a harder Brexit in years to come and now Davis is resuscitating the utterly irresponsible notion of a ‘no deal’ Brexit to try to avert the coming Tory civil war.”

–

Source: BBC

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There will be no “hard border” with Ireland; and the rights of EU citizens in the UK and UK citizens in the EU will be protected.

The so-called “divorce bill” will amount to between £35bn and £39bn, Downing Street says.

The European Commission president said it was a “breakthrough” and he was confident EU leaders will approve it.

They are due to meet next Thursday for a European Council summit and need to give their backing to the deal if the next phase of negotiations are to begin.

Talks can then move onto a transition deal to cover a period of up to two years after Brexit, and the “framework for the future relationship” – preliminary discussions about a future trade deal, although the EU says a deal can only be finalised once the UK has left the EU.

A final withdrawal treaty and transition deal will have to be ratified by the EU nations and the UK Parliament, before the UK leaves in March 2019.

Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party, whose opposition on Monday led to talks breaking down, said there was still “more work to be done” on the border issue and how it votes on the final deal “will depend on its contents”. Mrs May depends on the party’s support to win key votes in Westminster.

The pound was trading at a six-month high against the euro as news broke of the draft agreement.

What has been agreed?

• Guarantee that there will be “no hard border” between Northern Ireland and the Republic and that the “constitutional and economic integrity of the United Kingdom” will be maintained.
• EU citizens living in the UK and vice versa will have their rights to live, work and study protected. The agreement includes reunification rights for relatives who do not live in the UK to join them in their host country in the future
• Financial settlement – No specific figure is in the document but Downing Street says it will be between £35bn and £39bn, including budget contributions during a two-year “transition” period after March 2019

The Irish border – the devil in the detail

The UK government and the EU want to maintain the free flow of goods, without border checks that they fear could threaten a return to The Troubles, but the DUP does not want Northern Ireland to be treated differently to the rest of the UK after Brexit.

The joint EU-UK document says any future deal must protect “North-South co-operation” and hold to the UK’s “guarantee of avoiding a hard border”.

The agreement also says “no new regulatory barriers” will be allowed between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK, and that Northern Ireland’s businesses will continue to have “unfettered access” to the UK internal market – a passage thought to have been added to meet DUP concerns.

But it also sets out a fallback position if the UK fails to agree a trade deal. This could prove controversial because it says there will continue to be “full alignment” between the EU and Northern Ireland on some elements of cross-border trade, as set out in the Good Friday Agreement.

The DUP would have preferred this not to be in the agreement, says the BBC’s Chris Morris, and there could be some hard negotiating to do further down the line.

Citizens’ rights – same for everyone?

Agreement has been reached on what happens to the three million EU citizens living in the UK and more than a million UK citizens in EU states after Brexit.

EU citizens currently in the UK would be allowed to continue living and working there – and those already in the country who do not yet have permanent residency would be able to acquire it after Brexit.

Freedom of movement could continue for two years after March 2019, although the UK says new arrivals will have to register.

The plan is that UK citizens in living in an EU country would get the same rights, although they would not retain them if they moved to another EU country.

For eight years after Brexit, UK courts will be able to refer cases involving EU nationals to the European Court of Justice for interpretation.

But the campaign group the 3million, which represents EU citizens in the UK, said there was “still no clarity around the registration criteria for these rights” and said of the eight years: “Our rights should not have an expiry date”.

The divorce bill – a figure at last

A figure is not mentioned in the text of the agreement but Downing Street says it will be between £35bn and £39bn – higher than Theresa May indicated in September but lower than some estimates. It will be paid over four years and the precise figure is unlikely to be known for some time.

EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said the EU had agreed to drop the cost of relocating UK-based EU agencies from the final divorce bill.

The prime minister said it would be “fair to the British taxpayer” and would mean the UK in future “will be able to invest more in our priorities at home, such as housing, schools and the NHS”.

What happens next?

Technically a future trade deal cannot be signed while the UK remains a member of the EU but “preliminary and preparatory discussions” can begin.

But the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has said the withdrawal treaty and transition deal need to be ready by October 2018 – in order that they can be ratified by March 2019, before the “real negotiation” begins on the future relationship.

Mr Barnier suggested on Friday that the only option for a future trade arrangement was a Canada-style deal, rather than a one based on Norway, which retains free movement and unrestricted access to the single market but pays into the EU budget.

The European Council wants the UK to remain a “member” of the EU’s customs union and single market and to remain under the full jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice during the transition period, according to a leaked document.

What has changed since Monday?

The DUP, whose opposition on Monday led to talks breaking down, say there have been six “substantial changes” to the text.

Party leader Arlene Foster said they would mean there was “no red line down the Irish Sea” – meaning no customs barrier between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

But BBC Northern Ireland economics editor John Campbell says there is a lot of hard negotiating to come and compromises to be made.

Another interpretation of the deal is that that it still leaves the door open for a special status for Northern Ireland, he adds.

BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg’s analysis

Theresa May has achieved what she wanted – the green light to move on. Had she not, she was in deep, deep political trouble.

But the 15 pages, described as a “personal success” for Theresa May by Donald Tusk give her what she needed for now.

How has it been received?

Theresa May’s cabinet colleagues heaped praise on her, with Environment Secretary Michael Gove saying it was a “significant personal political achievement” for Mrs May while Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson tweeted: “Congratulations to PM for her determination in getting today’s deal.”

But Labour’s Brexit spokesman Sir Keir Starmer said Mrs May should “seriously reflect on her approach to the negotiations so far”.

He added: “Despite being two months later than originally planned, it is encouraging that the European Commission has recommended sufficient progress in the Brexit negotiations.”

 

DUP Leader Arlene Foster said it meant that Northern Ireland would “not be separated constitutionally, politically, economically or regulatory from the rest of the United Kingdom” and “in all circumstances the United Kingdom will continue to ensure the same unfettered access for Northern Ireland’s businesses to the whole of the UK internal market”.

Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted: “Move to phase 2 of talks is good – but the devil is in the detail and things now get really tough.”

Lib Dem leader Vince Cable, who backs a referendum on the final deal, said “it reduces the risk of a catastrophic no-deal Brexit” but questioned if it would last or be “torn apart by Theresa May’s own MPs”.

Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage told the BBC the estimated bill was “way more than we need to pay” and he was unhappy that the European Court of Justice would continue to have a role for up to eight years. “The whole thing is humiliating. We have collapsed at every level.”

–

Source: BBC

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The PM and Brexit Secretary David Davis are meeting European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and EU negotiator Michel Barnier.

Details of an agreement are expected to be set out at a joint news conference within the hour.

If the border question has been settled, talks can move on to the future of trade after Brexit.

The BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg was told last night that there were “serious ideas” on the table that the different parties were broadly content with.

Additional wording is understood to have been added to reassure the DUP, whose opposition on Monday led to talks breaking down.

The leader of Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party, Arlene Foster, said on Friday she was “pleased” to see changes which mean there is “no red line down the Irish sea”.

On Thursday evening, European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas tweeted: “We are making progress, but not yet fully there,” adding: “Tonight more than ever, stay tuned.”

In the early hours of Friday, the prime minister’s chief of staff, Gavin Barwell, tweeted: “Home for 3 hours sleep then back to work”, without offering any further details.

All sides want progress on the issue ahead of a crucial summit next week, so talks can move on to the future relationship between the UK and the EU after Brexit.

What happens to the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland has been among the key sticking points in Brexit negotiations.

On Monday, the DUP – whose support the UK prime minister needs to win key votes in Westminster – objected to draft plans drawn up by the UK and the EU.

They included aligning regulations in Northern Ireland with those in the Republic so as to avoid border checks.

The DUP insists it will not accept any agreement in which Northern Ireland was treated differently from the rest of the UK.

The Republic of Ireland, on the other hand, which is an EU member, wants a guarantee that there will be no hard border between it and Northern Ireland after Brexit.

The UK, which is due to leave the EU in March 2019, wants to open talks on a new free trade deal as soon as possible.

The EU will only agree to discuss this when it judges that enough progress has been made on the “separation issues” – the “divorce bill”, expat citizens’ rights and the Northern Ireland border – that have been the subject of negotiations so far.

So the UK is trying to settle the Northern Ireland border issue before EU leaders meet next week.

–

Source: BBC

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The prime minister said talks would reconvene “before the end of the week” and she was “confident we will conclude this positively”.

The talks are understood to have broken down after the Democratic Unionist Party refused to accept concessions on the Irish border issue.

Downing Street said that was not the only outstanding problem.

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said a deal had been done, but the UK appeared to change its mind over the Irish border question after pressure from the DUP.

“I am surprised and disappointed that the British government now appears not to be in a position to conclude what was agreed earlier today,” he told a press conference in Dublin.

Northern Ireland’s DUP has 10 MPs at Westminster, and their support is vital to the government.

This is because the Conservatives are without a Commons majority since June’s general election, and rely on a deal with the DUP to ensure they can survive key votes.

How the talks broke down

Mrs May is understood to have broken off from talks with European Commission President Jean-Claude Junker to speak to DUP leader Arlene Foster.

The UK had reportedly been prepared to accept that Northern Ireland may remain in the EU’s customs union and single market in all but name.

But Mrs Foster then said her party “will not accept any form of regulatory divergence” that separates Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK.

“During the call it was made plain to the PM that the DUP had significant concerns about the deal being discussed that gave concessions to the Dublin government,” said the BBC’s political editor Laura Kuenssberg.

“I understand Mrs Foster told Theresa May that she would not be able to support such a deal.

“It’s been suggested too that there are 20 or so Conservative MPs who had serious misgivings about the compromises that were understood to be on the table.”

Why is the DUP unhappy about the plan?

DUP leader Arlene Foster said her party would not accept any Brexit deal that “separates” Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK.

Her party’s Brexit spokesman Sammy Wilson claimed Brussels has been trying to “bounce the prime minister into acceding to the shape of a deal they want” and many of her own backbenchers would not accept it.

He said the DUP objected to the form of words used in a draft document, which he said referred to “regulatory alignment” and “no regulatory divergence” between Northern Ireland and the EU.

Both phrases were “simply EU speak for keeping Northern Ireland in the European market” and “in effect, part of the United Kingdom would be kept within the single market,” he said.

Asked if the DUP would pull out of the confidence and supply agreement they have with the Conservative government in Westminster over this issue, he said: “I think that her (Theresa May) problem isn’t going to be just with the DUP”.

The Irish prime minister’s position

Leo Varadkar says he wants a written guarantee that there will be no return to a “hard border” between the Republic and Northern Ireland – and this is what he thought he had got.

“I am surprised and disappointed that the British government now appears not to be in a position to conclude what was agreed earlier today,” he said.

“I accept that the prime minister has asked for more time and I know that she faces many challenges, and I acknowledge that she is negotiating in good faith.
“But my position and that of the Irish government is unequivocal: Ireland wants to proceed to phase two.

“However, we cannot agree to do this unless we have firm guarantees that there will not be a hard border in Ireland under any circumstances.”

He said it was important to listen to the DUP, but also to bear in mind the position of other parties in Northern Ireland – and it should not be forgotten that the majority in Northern Ireland voted to remain in the EU.

What did Theresa May say?

Speaking at a joint press conference in Brussels with Mr Juncker, Mrs May said: “We have been negotiating hard. And a lot of progress has been made. And on many of the issues there is a common understanding.

“And it is clear, crucially, that we want to move forward together.

“But on a couple of issues some differences do remain which require further negotiation and consultation.”

What did Jean-Claude Juncker say?

The European Commission President said “it was not possible to reach complete agreement today” despite their “best efforts”.

But he added: “I have to say that we were narrowing our positions to a huge extent today, thanks to the British prime minister, thanks to the willingness of the European Commission to have a fair deal with Britain.

“I’m still confident that we can reach sufficient progress before the European Council of 15 December.

“This is not a failure, this is the start of the very last round.

“I’m very confident that we will reach an agreement in the course of this week.”

UK political reaction

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: “The real reason for today’s failure is the grubby deal the government did with the DUP after the election.”

He added that “Labour has been clear from the outset that we need a jobs-first Brexit deal that works for the whole of the United Kingdom”.

Conservative MPs emerging from a Downing Street briefing on the talks said they had been told Mrs May had not agreed the proposal on regulatory alignment put forward by the Irish government.

Leading Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg said that the Conservatives were “as one” with the DUP on the importance of keeping the United Kingdom together, and the mood among Tory MPs in the meeting was “contented, not divisive or unhappy”.

Backbench Remain supporter Anna Soubry said no Conservative MP wanted Northern Ireland treated differently from the rest of the UK, which she said would be “a gift” to the Scottish National Party.

The “simple solution” would be for the whole of the UK to remain in the single market and customs union, she added.

Lib Dem Brexit spokesman Tom Brake said: “As each day goes by, it becomes clearer that the best deal for everyone is to stay in Europe. The people of the UK must be given a vote on the deal and an opportunity to exit from Brexit.”

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said that if Northern Ireland was allowed to operate under different rules there was “surely no good practical reason” why other parts of the UK could not do the same – a message echoed by Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones and London Mayor Sadiq Khan.

Where the talks are at

The EU says it will only recommend the start of talks about future trade arrangements when it deems “sufficient progress” has been made on three issues – the status of expat citizens, the “divorce” bill and the Northern Ireland border.

The UK has been set a deadline of this week to come forward with an improved offer on them, and hopes that the go-ahead for future talks will then be given at an EU leaders’ summit on 14-15 December.

On the “divorce bill”, the UK is understood to have recently increased its offer, which could be worth up to 50bn euros (£44bn).

On the issue of rights for the three million EU citizens in Britain, the UK has agreed that those who already have permanent residence will not have to pay to apply for settled status.

Those making a first time application for the right to stay after Brexit, however, will face a charge – reportedly similar to the cost of applying for a passport.
Settled status will grant those who have spent five years in the UK equal rights on healthcare, education, benefits and pensions to British citizens.

Ministers have already suggested people legally resident in the UK before an as yet unspecified cut-off date will be allowed to stay and they want to make the process “as easy as renewing a driving licence”.
–
By: BBC

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The prime minister said differences remain on a “couple of issues”.

She said talks would reconvene “before the end of the week” and she was “confident we will conclude this positively”.

The BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg said the deal had been “sunk” by the DUP, which reacted angrily to reports of concessions on the Irish border issue.

Mrs May is understood to have broken off from talks with European Commission President Jean Claude Junker to speak to Arlene Foster, after the DUP leader had held a press conference saying her party “will not accept any form of regulatory divergence” that separates Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK.

“During the call it was made plain to the PM that the DUP, whose support is vital to the government being able to pass their Brexit legislation, had significant concerns about the deal being discussed that gave concessions to the Dublin government,” the BBC’s political editor said.

“I understand Foster told Theresa May that she would not be able to support such a deal. It’s been suggested too that there are 20 or so Conservative MPs who had serious misgivings about the compromises that were understood to be on the table.”

The UK was reportedly prepared to accept that Northern Ireland may remain in the EU’s customs union and single market in all but name.

The EU has said it will not talk about Britain’s post-Brexit trading relations until an agreement has been reached on the issue of citizens’ rights, how much the UK will pay as it leaves – the so-called “divorce bill” – and the Irish land border.

The prime minister is attempting to reach an agreement on these three issues ahead of a summit of EU leaders in 10 days’ time.

Speaking at a joint press conference in Brussels with Mr Juncker, Mrs May said: “We have been negotiating hard. And a lot of progress has been made. And on many of the issues there is a common understanding.

“And it is clear, crucially, that we want to move forward together. But on a couple of issues some differences do remain which require further negotiation and consultation.”

Mr Juncker said “it was not possible to reach complete agreement today” despite their “best efforts”.

But he added: “I have to say that we were narrowing our positions to a huge extent today, thanks to the British prime minister, thanks to the willingness of the European Commission to have a fair deal with Britain.

“I’m still confident that we can reach sufficient progress before the European Council of 15 December.

“This is not a failure, this is the start of the very last round. I’m very confident that we will reach an agreement in the course of this week.”

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said that if Northern Ireland was allowed to operate under different rules there was “surely no good practical reason” why other parts of the UK could not do the same – a message echoed by Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones and London Mayor Sadiq Khan.

–

Source: BBC

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The BBC understands deals on the UK “divorce bill” and citizens’ rights were reached this weekend.

But the UK border with Ireland remains an outstanding issue.

The PM will meet European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker in Brussels, with Downing Street saying “plenty of discussions” lie ahead.

BBC Europe editor Katya Adler said there was an “upbeat mood” of “cautious optimism”.

The timings of Mrs May’s visit marks a deadline set by Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, for her to come forward with an improved offer on the terms of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.

The UK is hoping to start talks about a free trade agreement but the EU says it will only recommend this can take place when it deems “sufficient progress” has been made on the other issues.

The UK voted for Brexit last year and is due to leave in March 2019, but negotiations between the EU and the UK have not yet reached a breakthrough.

Mrs May will be accompanied by the Brexit Secretary David Davis for the discussions with Mr Juncker and Mr Tusk.

Downing Street has described the meeting as an “important staging post” on the route to the “crucial” summit with the other 27 leaders in the middle of the month when it hopes trade talks can begin.

However, Mr Tusk has stated Dublin must be satisfied there will be no return to a “hard border” between Northern Ireland and the Republic after Brexit, before the EU moves on to the next stage of negotiations.

On Sunday, there were warnings from Tory Brexiteers not to give any more ground to Brussels.

–

Source: BBC

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The poll, published in the Mail on Sunday newspaper, found 50 percent of people supported another vote on the final terms of Britain’s exit deal, 34 percent rejected another referendum and 16 percent said they did not know.

The newspaper said it was the first major opinion poll since last week’s media reports that Britain is preparing to pay about 50 billion euros ($59 billion) to help to pave the way for talks on a future trade pact with the EU.

The poll found 35 percent of those surveyed said they would be worse off financially after Brexit, while 14 percent said they would be better off.

The online poll, carried out by research firm Survation, interviewed 1,003 adults in Britain between 30 November and 1 December.

Mike Smithson, an election analyst who runs the www.politicalbetting.com website and a former Liberal Democrat politician, said on Twitter it was “the first time any pollster has recorded backing” for a second Brexit referendum.

Since the referendum in 2016, high profile opponents of Britain’s exit – from French President Emmanuel Macron, to former British prime minister Tony Blair and billionaire investor George Soros – have suggested Britain could change its mind and avoid what they say will be disastrous for the British economy.

Blair told the BBC on Sunday that Britain could change its mind about leaving the EU.

“It’s reversible. It’s not done until it’s done,” he said.

Blair said what the government was seeking to negotiate was not possible.

“They are trying to negotiate getting out of the single market while recreating all of its benefits,” Blair said. “That’s not going to happen.”

Survation said it carries out polls for media organizations including the BBC, Sky News, the Daily Telegraph and the Guardian.

–

Source: Reuters

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Mr Juncker told the European Parliament that Brexit would be a “sad, tragic” moment for the EU but that the 27-member union would “move on”.

“Brexit is not the future of Europe. It is not the be all and end all.”

But, speaking in the same debate, ex-UKIP leader Nigel Farage said the EU had “learnt nothing” from Brexit and was ploughing “full steam ahead”.

In his state of the union speech in Strasbourg, Mr Juncker proposed an EU summit on the day after Brexit, 30 March 2019, in the Romanian city of Sibiu to map out the future of the European Union.

He called for closer economic and defence co-operation among member states, including more support for states outside the eurozone to prepare them to join the single currency, and reforms to the single market.

Reflecting on the economic and political challenges that the continent had faced in recent years, he said the “wind is back in Europe’s sails”.

While he respected the choice of the British people to go their own way, he said the UK’s exit would prove a “very sad, tragic moment in our history” which we “will always regret”.

Responding to UKIP MEPs in the chamber, who had cheered the mention of the UK’s exit, he added – in an off-the-cuff remark not included in advance copies of the speech – “I think you will regret it as well soon, if I might say.”

But he went on to stress that Brexit “was not everything” and an increasingly confident EU would continue to advance, focusing as he put it on the big strategic challenges rather than “the small things”.

‘More Europe’
Mr Farage, the best known campaigner in the Parliament for the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, attacked what he said were “truly worrying” plans to create a single president of the EU, an EU finance minister and a “strong EU army in a militarised Europe”.

He said what was being proposed was “more Europe in every single direction… without the consent of the people”.

He also warned the idea of allowing future candidates to the European Parliament to stand on transnational tickets, rather than representing nation states, was anti-democratic and “reminiscent of regimes of old”.

“You have learnt nothing from Brexit. If you had offered David Cameron concessions, particularly on immigration, I would have to admit that the Brexit vote would never ever have happened,” he said.

Telling MEPs “thank God we are leaving”, Mr Farage said the EU was “deluding itself” if it believed the “populist wave” of protests against the established European political order was over.

Responding to Mr Juncker’s comments, justice minister Sam Gyimah said his initial reaction was “he would say that, wouldn’t he” and he had signalled a future direction for Europe that “Britain was never going to go in”.

Rather than “berating Britain”, the Conservative MP told the BBC’s Daily Politics that the EU’s best interests would be served by agreeing a Brexit deal which made the whole of Europe more prosperous and secure.

Negotiations between the UK and EU are continuing although the latest round of talks, due to begin on Monday, have been put back a week to allow “more time for consultation”.

Speaking on Tuesday, former Brexit minister Lord Bridges said the UK must be “honest” about the “complexity and scale” of leaving the EU as well as the lack of time to reach agreement with the EU.

And France’s economy minister has sounded a warning that it will aggressively target new business as it seeks to make Paris the pre-eminent financial centre on the continent.

Changes to the country’s labour laws meant France would become the “place to be” for financial services, Benjamin Griveaux told BBC Radio 4’s Today, while acknowledging London would remain a major player.

“We need to have a fair Brexit, but we need to move on and we need probably more clarity and less ambiguity from the British government regarding the target of Brexit,” he added.

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Source: BBC

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When he was prime minister, his government – unlike most EU countries – did not apply transitional controls on migrants from eastern Europe.

But in a Sunday Times article, he said “times were different” now, and all EU nationals should register on arrival and should already have a job offer.

However, Mr Blair still opposes leaving the EU, saying it will be “painful”.

He says tougher immigration policies could “deal with the anxieties” that he says led to the Brexit vote – without the UK necessarily having to go through with it.

‘Restrict healthcare’
Under existing rules, citizens of other EU countries can be removed after six months if they have not found a job, have no realistic possibility of finding one, and require support from the welfare system.

But the new report by Mr Blair’s Institute for Global Change says EU nationals should already have an offer of work when they arrive.

Those who didn’t earn permission to stay would be banned from opening a bank account, renting a home or claiming benefits.

The report also proposes restricting free healthcare for unemployed migrants and letting universities charge EU nationals higher tuition fees than British students.

He argues his approach “reaches out to Leave voters to show their concerns are better met”, without “the damage” he claims Brexit will do.

And he acknowledges that his thinking has changed.
“My government in 2004 did not invoke the transitional arrangements when eastern Europe joined the EU,” he writes.

“Back then the economy was strong, the workers were needed and actually the biggest annual numbers came post-2011.

“But the real point is that the times were different; the sentiment was different; and intelligent politics takes account of such change.”
The co-chairman of the campaign group Leave Means Leave, Richard Tice, said Tony Blair’s attempt to deny democracy would be seen for what it was.
Downing Street declined to comment.

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Source: BBC

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