UK politics - as it happened: Theresa May accused of 'running scared' of Parliament as Dominic Raab updates MPs on Brexit negotiations
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Your support makes all the difference.Labour has accused Theresa May of "running scared" of Parliament after she sent her Brexit secretary, Dominic Raab, to update MPs on the state of the negotiations.
Mr Raab said talks with Brussels have "intensified" in recent weeks, with both sides "closing in workable solutions" to all the outstanding issues, including the deadlock over the Irish border.
In a heated Commons outing, Mr Raab stood against Brexiteers who urged him to ditch the Chequers plan in favour of their preferred Canada-style model, insisting their plan was a "shortcut" to crashing out of the EU without a deal.
Earlier, DUP leader Arlene Foster, whose party props up Ms May's fragile government, travelled to Brussels for talks with the EU's chief negotiator, Michel Barnier.
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ITV's Robert Peston hones in on comments from Nigel Dodds from the DUP. Mr Dodds said a similar thing to The Independent at Tory conference last week.
Boris Johnson is in the chamber for Dominic Raab's statement but he is not seeking to catch the speaker's eye to ask a question.
Perhaps he has run out of things to say on Brexit?
That's the end of Dominic Raab's statement in the Commons.
The best bits were when he "categorically" ruled out an indefinite customs union to resolve Irish border difficulties in the Brexit talks.
The Brexit Secretary told MPs that talks with the EU have "intensified" in recent weeks and the two sides are "closing in on workable solutions" to all of the key outstanding issues before urging Brussels to match the UK's "ambitions" and "pragmatism".
Labour accused Mr Raab of "pretending that everything is going according to plan" and urged him to "scotch rumours" that the Government is not intending to publish an Irish border backstop proposal by next week, before questioning if an "indefinite UK-wide customs union" would be part of the offer.
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