The race for a Brexit deal: how the day unfolded

The country awoke on Wednesday morning to what was described as a final day of efforts to get a Brexit deal ready for a crucial EU summit on Thursday.

Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, had said that the UK and EU would have to agree a legal text by 11pm UK time on Tuesday for it to be possible for a deal to be agreed at the summit – but, not for the first time, talks overran to 1.30am before continuing seven hours later. This is how the day unfolded.

7.00am – A delegation of cross-party MPs led by Dominic Grieve is spotted on the Eurostar to Brussels. Peter Grant of the SNP tweeted that they were going “to ask the EU not to let Johnston [sic] crash us out without a deal”.

7.47am – ITV’s Robert Peston reports that Downing Street is downbeat about a deal. He quotes a government source saying: “Chances of a deal are low. DUP seem unlikely to support anything that’s negotiable”.

8.10am – David Davis, the former Brexit secretary, tells the BBC’s Today programme that some Tory Brexiters would be strongly influenced by the DUP in deciding whether or not to back Boris Johnson’s deal. He says he would have to read the detail of any new deal before he decided whether or not to support it.

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8.19am – The BBC’s Adam Fleming reports that negotiations have resumed in Brussels.

9.20am – Speaking to Sky News’s All Out Politics, Mark Francois, the deputy chair of the European Research Group (ERG), which represents Tories pushing for a harder Brexit, does not firmly rule out accepting another extension, keeping the UK in the EU beyond 31 October. He says that most people in the country, particularly outside London, just want to see the matter sorted.

9.30am – The DUP denies multiple reports that it had been offered “billions” by Downing Street over the past two days in return for their support for a deal. A DUP spokesman says: “This is categorically untrue and utter nonsense.“

10.00am – Stephen Barclay, the Brexit secretary, gives evidence to the Commons Brexit committee. Sammy Wilson, the DUP’s Brexit spokesman, uses his questions to spell out his party’s position. He claims that removing what was seen as the DUP veto over the arrangements would breach the Good Friday agreement and that the plan being considered by the government would “diminish” the powers of the Northern Ireland assembly.

11.45am – Jeremy Corbyn plays down the suggestion that he could remove the whip from any Labour MP who votes for Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal. Nineteen Labour MPs recently signed an open letter saying that they were opposed to extending Brexit (Labour’s official policy) and that they wanted to vote for a deal.

2.30pm – The Irish taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, tells Irish MPs that he still thinks a Brexit deal is possible but that he cannot say when. “I said last week that I thought that there was a pathway to a possible agreement,” he said. “That is still my view. However, the question is whether the negotiators will be able to bridge the remaining gaps in advance of tomorrow’s council.”

2.30pm – Boris Johnson holds a meeting of his cabinet. Ministers are not briefed about the full contents of a possible deal because it isn’t ready yet.

2.45pm – Donald Tusk, the president of the European council, tells journalists: “Theoretically in seven to eight hours everything should be clear. It is still undergoing changes and the basic foundations of this agreement are ready and theoretically we could accept a deal tomorrow.”

4.30pm – Downing Street announces that it has tabled a motion for the House of Commons and the House of Lords to sit on Saturday, from 9.30am until 2pm. MPs are due to vote on the motion on Thursday but it can be withdrawn if a deal is not reached.

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4.30pm – Boris Johnson attends a meeting of the backbench 1922 committee and stays for less than 10 minutes. The PM told Tory MPs that the government was “on the Hillary Step” in relation to the Brexit talks, referring to what was famous as the most perilous part of the route up Everest. Leaving the meeting ERG leader Steve Baker says the deal in the works “could well be tolerable”.

6.00pm – The French president, Emmanuel Macron, says he “wants to believe” an agreement on Brexit is being finalised among negotiators in Brussels. Speaking in Toulouse, he said: “I want to believe that a deal is being finalised and that we can approve it tomorrow [Thursday].”

6.00pm – The German chancellor Angela Merkel says she believes it is the “final sprint” for negotiations and she is “increasingly of the belief” that an agreement would be reached with the UK.