Theresa May invites ministers to preview draft EU deal

Theresa May has invited Cabinet ministers into Downing Street to catch a glimpse of the UK’s draft deal with the European Union.

The deal being discussed is not the full withdrawal agreement and crucially does not contain the protocol on Northern Ireland, which Downing Street said was still to be finalised as negotiations were ongoing.

The issue of the Irish border has proven to be the main stumbling block in the negotiations, with the UK and EU divided over the issue of a backstop, an arrangement designed to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland.

The EU has suggested a backstop that would keep Northern Ireland in the EU customs union and large parts of the single market, but this has been rejected by the Prime Minister on the grounds it undermines the constitutional integrity of the UK.

She has instead proposed a backstop that would see the whole of the UK inside the EU customs union for a limited time after 2020, but Brexiters are adamant that there must a mechanism that would allow the UK to leave.

May was also facing pressure yesterday to publish the legal advice she has received from attorney general Geoffrey Cox on the strategy for Northern Ireland.

The Democratic Unionist Party chief whip in Westminster Jeffrey Donaldson argued the advice should be released because it was in the public interest to do so.

Meanwhile, the EU’s highest court said it will decide on 27 November whether the UK will be able to reverse its Brexit decision.