Brexit deal 'almost in touching distance' as critical EU deadline looms
A Brexit deal was almost within touching distance, Prime Minister Theresa May’s de facto deputy said on Tuesday, as Britain and the EU sought to avoid missing a deadline for approving the divorce. While officials choreograph the first withdrawal of a sovereign state from the EU, it remains unclear whether May can get any deal approved by the British parliament. “We are almost within touching distance now,” cabinet office minister David Lidington told BBC radio. Asked if he was saying a deal was possible in the next 24 or 48 hours, he sai: “Still possible but not at all definite, I think pretty much sums it up. Cautiously optimistic.” A British government source said an agreement on a withdrawal deal was closer than it had been on Monday, after negotiators worked late into the night at the European Commission’s Berlaymont building in Brussels. Sterling, which has see-sawed since reaching $1.50 just before results of the 2016 referendum vote for Britain to leave the EU, jumped almost ...
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