Little hope or expectation for a Brexit breakthrough as Theresa May heads to Brussels

The prime minister heads to Brussels today with little expectation of unlocking the further progress on Brexit that had been hoped for this month.

Downing Street insiders do not now believe there is much prospect of the EU27 recommending a special November summit to seal a deal.

Ministerial sources told Sky News "the most we can hope for is that they don't rule a November summit out".

The PM will address the EU27 just ahead of their pre-summit dinner, with UK officials playing down the prospect for any new proposals or breakthroughs.

"The PM set out her position on Monday, Donald Tusk has set out his views and the PM looks forward to face to face discussion," was Number 10's response to the request from the EU Council President for "concrete proposals" and "new facts" following the unravelling of a technical deal on Sunday over the issue of the Irish backstop.

The backstop plan is a safety net which sets out proposals for customs arrangements with the EU if a permanent deal is not secured by March 2019, when the UK leaves the bloc.

The cabinet meeting yesterday did not consider a specific wording on any deal, nor make any decisions, but was a discussion about the negotiations and unity.

Number 10 did say progress had been made on the vital issues of the future trade framework, and the notion of a whole UK backstop for both customs and some single market regulations.

EU sources confirmed that it had "improved" the backstop, as has the UK, but that there could be no question of an expiry date "unless and until" proven other methods to avoid an open border were in place.

The Financial Times reported that EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier is open to a possible one-year extension to the Brexit transition, should Mrs May accept a "two-tier" backstop.

Luxembourg's foreign minister Jean Asselborn also told German media: "What can be extended with no major problem is the 1 January 2020 date for the transition period.

"If a year is added to that it won't hurt Europe, I hope not Britain as well."

The EU pulled the publication of a draft future framework agreement in the absence of agreement on the backstop within a withdrawal deal. It is now unclear when this will be published.

Both sides stress that there was progress on other unresolved issues, such as how the withdrawal agreement could be governed, and any role for the European Court of Justice, and the mutual recognition of Geographical Indications, such as Champagne, and Welsh Caerphilly.

French finance minister Bruno Le Maire optimistically declared "we are not far from a deal" on the morning of the summit.

However, the lack of progress on the backstop for Northern Ireland has put those processes on hold.

In Westminster, there was a suspicion that the UK government will try to avoid publishing its backstop compromise until after an expected Budget vote on 1 November, which Tory Brexiters and the DUP have threatened to vote against, undermining the government's stability.

One EU27 diplomat told Sky News: "The clock is ticking - the ball is in the UK court. The British have a political problem, they have to come back to us when they've solved it."

With the impasse likely to continue, diplomats are beginning to expect that a deal might not be complete until December or January, making it very tight to ratify any agreement in domestic parliaments across the EU, including the House of Commons.

There is also the chance that the EU27 will decide to hold a summit in November, not for the purposes of sealing a deal, but to greatly ratchet up preparations for no deal.

The Netherlands and France have already drafted emergency laws to deal with the border, customs and immigration consequences of a no-deal Brexit.