Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay is to hold talks with the EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, later.

It comes after European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker told Sky News on Thursday that “we can have a deal” on Brexit.

Juncker said a no-deal Brexit would have “catastrophic consequences” and said he was doing “everything to get a deal”.

And he said he did not have “an erotic relation” to the so-called backstop, which he said he was prepared to remove from a withdrawal agreement, so long as “alternative arrangements [are put in place] allowing us and Britain to achieve the main objectives of the backstop. All of them”.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he did not want to “exaggerate progress” but some was being made.

However, Ireland’s foreign minister, Simon Coveney, said there was still a “big gap” between the two sides.

Ahead of the meeting in Brussels, Mr Barclay warned the EU against a “rigid” approach and suggested the final details of an alternative to the Irish backstop may not need to be resolved until the end of 2020.

The backstop is the controversial policy aimed at preventing the return of a hard border on the island of Ireland after Brexit.

Via Sky News