EU hints Brexit deal may be within reach

The European Union's chief negotiator Michel Barnier has given one of his most positive assessments yet of the British government's attempts to extricate itself from the union, known as Brexit, saying a deal could be achieved within six to eight weeks if both sides are "realistic".

Monday marked 200 days until the United Kingdom is due to leave the EU, on March 29, 2019, but more than two years on from the referendum which triggered the decision, Prime Minister Theresa May's government is no closer to agreeing a clear withdrawal strategy, and there are increasingly public divisions over what its next course of action should be.

May came up with her own proposal recently, known as the Chequers plan, but there were reports from Europe last week that Barnier had described it as "dead" - something he now denies.