Dominic Raab: UK will be ‘ready for Brexit, deal or no deal’
Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab told MPs today that the UK will be "ready for Brexit, deal or no deal".
Raab said the UK had received "positive and constructive feedback" from its EU counterparts on its Brexit plans.
Speaking in the House of Commons Raab said: "pace and intensity has been injected into Brexit negotiations".
Read more: Tory voters snub Chequers deal as Brexiter MPs flex their muscles
He said that the UK had made significant progress towards an "orderly and smooth" transition over the summer on issues such as judicial procedures and data protection.
Raab said that EU proposals for a customs border down the Irish Sea are “unacceptable” and he said he would continue to work on a backstop solution for the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland.
He said the chance of the UK and EU not reaching a Brexit deal was “unlikely” and said there was a spirit of compromise that would help the two sides reach an agreement.
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Shadow Brexit Secretary Keir Starmer hit back saying that Raab’s statement "is not going to reassure anyone".
"The government has got six weeks to get this right, more of the same will not do," Starmer added.
The UK’s Brexit proposal, dubbed the Chequers plan, has come under fire from the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier who said he is “strongly opposed” to aspects of the plan.
It has also taken flak from both remain and leave supporting Tory MPs.
Former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said Prime Minister Theresa May was negotiating with the EU with the “white flag fluttering”, while remain supporter and former Education Secretary Justine Greening said the plan was “more unpopular than the poll tax”.