Boris Johnson news – live: PM says no-deal Brexit is ‘touch and go’ as he threatens to withhold divorce bill from EU

In his meeting with Donald Tusk, the European Council president, Mr Johnson said: "So far in this G7 I think it would be fair to say, Donald, you and I have spent most of the conversations in completely glutinous agreement on most of the issues that have been raised, whether it has been Ukraine or Russia or Iran ... Hong Kong.

"A demonstration of the closeness of the UK to our European friends which will persist beyond 31 October, whatever happens."

Mr Tusk told him: "I couldn't agree more."

Mr Johnson has threatened to withhold some of the £39bn Brexit divorce bill from the EU

Mr Johnson has said if Britain leaves the EU without a deal, it will no longer legally owe the £39bn divorce bill agreed by his predecessor, Theresa May.

Earlier, British media reported Mr Johnson would use a meeting with Donald Tusk, the European Parliament president, on the sidelines of the G7 summit to set out that Britain would pay less than £10bn of the settlement if it leaves without a deal.

Sky News said the figure was £9bn, while the Sunday Times reported British government lawyers had concluded the amount Britain was legally obliged to pay could be as low as £7bn.

"I think what the entire European Union understands is that if we come out without a deal then...the £39 is no longer legally pledged," Mr Johnson told Sky News, when asked if he had told EU leaders this week he planned to withhold the money.

"As I've said many, many times we will therefore on 1 November have very substantial sums available from that £39bn to spend on supporting our farmers... and indeed for investment in all sorts of areas."

Prince Andrew has done good work for British businesses overseas, Mr Johnson has said, after weeks of scrutiny over the friendship between Queen Elizabeth's second son and convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Andrew issued a lengthy statement yesterday about his relationship with Epstein, who committed suicide in a Manhatten jail earlier this month while being held on sex-trafficking charges.

Asked during media interviews at the G7 summit whether he had confidence in Andrew, Mr Johnson told ITV News: "I've worked with Prince Andrew, I've seen the good he has been able to do for UK business overseas.

"I have no comment, or indeed no knowledge of this other stuff," he added.

French authorities have detained 68 people taking part in a tense protest near the G7 summit. 

The regional administration says those detained are accused of throwing projectiles, concealing their faces or possessing objects that could be used as weapons. 

Police fired tear gas, water cannon and dispersion grenades at a crowd of about 400 mostly peaceful anti-capitalism demonstrators Saturday in the town of Bayonne.

The regional administration said no injuries were reported in the skirmishes. 

An Iranian government jet has landed in Biarritz, where leaders of the G7 are meeting, the flight tracking website flightradar24.com showed.

Biarritz's airport has been closed for the duration of the summit from Saturday to Monday.

The same plane took Iran's foreign affairs minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, to Oslo and Paris last week, the site showed.

European leaders have struggled to calm a deepening confrontation between Iran and the United States since Mr Trump pulled his country out of Iran's internationally brokered 2015 nuclear deal and reimposed sanctions on the Iranian economy.

Earlier on Sunday at the G7 summit, the US president appeared to brush aside French efforts to mediate with Iran, saying that while he was happy for Paris to reach out to Tehran to defuse tensions he would carry on with his own initiatives.

France said G7 leaders had agreed that Mr Macron should hold talks and pass on messages to Iran. However,Mr  Trump, who has pushed a maximum pressure policy on Iran, distanced himself from the proposal, saying he had not even discussed it.

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman has said the Islamic Republic's top diplomat has landed at the French city hosting the G7 leaders' summit, though he won't be negotiating nor meeting with US officials while there.

Abbas Mousavi wrote on Twitter that Mohammad Javad Zarif, the country's foreign minister, had arrived in Biarritz.

Mr Mousavi made the announcement just after an Airbus A321 registered to the Iranian government landed there, fueling speculation Mr Zarif could be on board.

This is a surprise trip by Mr Zarif. He had only been known to be traveling in the coming days to Asia as part of his tour to get support for Iran amid the US campaign against it since Mr Trump withdrew America from Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

Mr Mousavi stressed in his tweet that "there will be no meetings or negotiations" with American officials during Mr Zarif's trip.

Boris Johnson took a dawn dip in the Atlantic before beginning his day of diplomacy at the G7 summit in Biarritz, Andrew Woodcock, our political editor, writes.

The prime minister went down from his hotel to the Miramar beach at 7am and took to the water with the UK’s ambassador to France, Lord Llewellyn.

Mr Johnson struck out for the distinctive Roche Ronde, around 200 metres offshore, and swam around the landmark before returning to the beach.

He was watched over by French security officers, who have been stationed on boats and paddleboats along the coast as part of a massive operation which has seen the fashionable seaside resort all but emptied of its population while world leaders are there.

Aides said that he would have been in sight of security personnel throughout his swim, though no-one was specifically assigned to escort him.

Mr Johnson was back on dry land by 8am, in time to join Donald Trump for a breakfast meeting.

He later used his swim as a metaphor for the Brexit, telling ITV: “I swam round that rock this morning.

"From here you cannot tell there is a gigantic hole in that rock. There is a way through.

"My point to the EU is that there is a way through, but you can't find the way through if you just sit on the beach.”

Iran's foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is in talks with his French counterpart on the sidelines of a G7 leaders' summit to discuss what conditions would de-escalate tensions between Washington and Tehran, a French presidency official said.

"Zarif came to Paris on Friday with Iranian propositions which obviously must be refined," the French official said.

"Yesterday there was a substantial discussion between G7 leaders and it is important to now update Zarif in order to keep closing the gap...on the conditions with which we could de-escalate the tensions and create breathing space for negotiations."

No discussions are planned between Iranian and American officials at this stage, the official said, adding that Mr Zarif's visit had been finalised yesterday evening.

Mr Johnson has refused to give an interview to Channel 4 at the G7 summit, days after he was criticised by the organisation's news chief, Dorothy Byrne, in her speech at the Edinburgh TV Festival.

Channel 4 News tweeted: "@c4news' interview with @borisjohnson at #G7Biarritz cancelled, despite team being told to travel to summit for interview.

"Decision by @10DowningStreet was made following criticism from Dorothy Byrne that Mr Johnson limits access to media like Putin.

"@10DowningStreet's reasons for the cancellation have varied. One senior advisor said the interview was scrapped because of Dorothy Byrne's recent speech.

"Mr Johnson told @itvnews' @Peston it was because he didn't have time." 

Ms Byrne compared Mr Johnson with Vladimir Putin as she outlined his preference for recording a "jolly statement" over a grilling on television, at the Edinburgh TV Festival, saying: "What we all need to decide: what do we do when a known liar becomes our prime minister?"