Theresa May is set to update MPs about Brexit negotiations, after talks with the EU hit a standstill over the weekend.
The Prime Minister is set to update Parliament at 3.30pm this afternoon, as speculation of a no deal outcome continues to mount.
The government Brexit secretary made an unexpected trip to Brussels over the weekend, however talks quickly dissolved dampening hopes of an imminent agreement.
According to government sources, talks with the EU hit a “real problem” over the Irish border issue.
Both parties disagreed over a back-up plan in the event of a no-deal, referred to as the ‘backstop’.
Whilst Theresa May pushed for an arrangement involving the UK as a whole, the EU argued for a second arrangement involving just Northern Ireland, should no deal be negotiated by the deadline.
Theresa May’s government is under particular domestic pressure to appease various parties concerned over the Northern Ireland border.
In particular, the Democratic Unionist Party, have vocalised opposition to any new checks between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Crucially, the DUP’s support is needed for Theresa May to get any proposed deal through parliament, given the fact the Conservative’s failed to secure a parliamentary majority in the last election.
Moreover, former foreign secretary Boris Johnson has continued to be a fervent critic of the government’s approach to Brexit.
Taking to his weekly column in the Telegraph, Johnson wrote:
“Like some chessplayer triumphantly forking our king and our queen, the EU commission is offering the UK government what appears to be a binary choice. It is a choice between the breakup of this country, or the subjugation of this country, between separation or submission.”
Moreover, Johnson has also opposed the government’s Chequer’s deal, which he also dubbed ‘the greatest national humiliation since Suez’.
Writing in a column for the Belfast Newsletter, Johnson said that ‘The only way to put things back on the right track is to ditch the backstop and then to chuck Chequers.’
Read more about Theresa May’s controversial Chequers deal here.