Michel Barnier on the wires now 8 Dec 2017
- Must have withdrawal agreement ready by Oct 2018
- UK gives effective guarantee to avoid hard border
- There will be distinct strand of talks on Ireland in 2nd phase talks
- UK to contribute to EU's 2019, 2020 budget
- Not the case that UK will stay in the single market and customs union, if no other solution to regulatory alignment can be found for Irish border
- Solutions for regulatory alignment concern only Ireland
- All phases are 'difficult' in Brexit talks
Barnier out to talk now. As mentioned, it's just one politician after another making the rounds now - and they're all pretty much echoing the same sentiment.
Cable has retreated slightly now to 1.3492, while EUR/GBP climbs back up to 0.8702.
