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Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay, MPs and government officials will discuss alternative arrangements to the Irish backstop as three days of talks begin. The Alternative Arrangements Working Group, with Leave and Remain MPs, will meet for the first time on Monday after the Commons voted to find another way of avoiding a hard Irish border. Home Secretary Sajid Javid has said "existing technology" could be used. The Irish PM said the UK was reviewing ideas that had "already been rejected".

Only days after a surprise visit to Downing Street, Boris Johnson is predicting a Brexit fightback by Theresa May and a breakthrough in her battle with rebel Tory MPs in crucial Commons votes. On the eve of a second showdown with MPs on her Brexit proposals, two weeks after her humiliating defeat by 230 votes, the prime minister has received an unexpected boost from Mr Johnson. After his Downing Street visit last week, it was reported that after long talks with government chief whip Julian Smith, Mr Johnson was close to backing Mrs May's Brexit deal with a time limit...

Brussels, Dublin and London have all stated they do no want a hard border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland after Brexit. But the EU has given apparent confirmation they would enforce such a scenario should the UK leave the bloc without a withdrawal agreement, known as a no-deal outcome. The comments prompted Ireland's deputy prime minister Simon Coveney, also his country's foreign minister, to repeat Dublin's position that it is not planning for a hard border, even with the possibility of a no-deal Brexit. "The Irish government will not support the re-emergence of border security on this...

Prime Minister Theresa May warned on Monday that Britain’s planned exit from the EU could be derailed, a last-ditch effort to win over Brexit-supporting lawmakers who have repeatedly said they will vote down her divorce deal. The fate of the United Kingdom’s March 29 exit from the EU is deeply uncertain as parliament is likely to reject May’s deal on Tuesday evening, opening up outcomes ranging from a disorderly divorce to reversing Brexit altogether. Amid the deepest crisis in British politics for at least half a century, May and EU leaders exchanged letters giving assurances on her withdrawal agreement, though...

A new political party, Irexit Freedom to Prosper, campaigning for Ireland to leave the EU will field candidates in next year’s European elections, its founder Herman Kelly has said. Speaking at the founding AGM of the party at a hotel in Dublin on Saturday, he said: “Today is about fulfilling the legal requirements to register, to sign up 300 people, and to have an AGM to elect national officers. We will be running candidates in the European elections.” The elections are due to take place alongside local elections, in May 2019. Before the conference got under way, Mr. Kelly said,...