Brexit news – live: EU must bring something to the table, says Boris Johnson as talks reach ‘moment of truth’

A ministerial aide has been sacked after Boris Johnson’s chief whip conducted a sting designed to catch out leakers, our political editor Andrew Woodcock reports.

Andrew Lewer was sacked from his junior government role as parliamentary private secretary in the Home Office after a letter calling for an end of leaks to the press was itself leaked to the Guido Fawkes website of Westminster scandal and gossip.

It is understood that chief whip Mark Spencer used slightly different wording in each copy of the letter, in order to allow officials to identify the source of any information which found its way into the media.

Jim Pickard, chief political correspondent of the Financial Times, shared a short insider’s account of how the Conservative party is holding up during the Brexit negotiation end times. Not so well it seems.

The influential German MEP David McAllister has said the European Parliament is ready to look at (and presumably ratify) any Brexit deal that emerges in the coming days.

The chair of the parliament’s foreign affairs committee points out that “this would be a unique scenario and will not serve as precedent for future agreements” – a hint that the Brussels parliament is prepared to move past the Sunday deadline it imposed earlier this week? Would MEPs really refuse to get ratification done in time if a deal emerges on Monday or Tuesday?

Speaking during his visit to Greater Manchester today, whether the weather is looking blustery, Boris Johnson insisted he does try to keep his blonde mop in order. “I do brush it – I have brush in my office … apologises for my hair, but I do my best with it.”

Switching our attention away from Brexit for a moment, it’s emerged that parts of a controversial speech given by equalities minister Liz Truss have been pulled from the government’s website.

The speech was branded “bonkers” by critics after the Tory claimed children in her class at school were left unable to read or write because too much time was taken up learning about racism and sexism.

The minister, who went to school in Leeds under Margaret Thatcher’s government, said children had been deprived of a proper education – and included a bizarre rant about French philosopher Michel Foucault.

But after appearing in full yesterday on gov.uk, by Friday lunchtime large swathes of the speech had been cut and replaced with a note saying that “political content” had been redacted. Oh well.

The respected Brexit analyst Mujtaba Rahman isn’t putting much stock in the downbeat rhetoric coming from Boris Johnson and No 10 today. The Eurasia Group expert says the pessimism is “tactical” in a final bid to get more out of EU on fishing rights – and to limit the time people have to scrutinise and find problems in the detail of any agreement.

Green MEP Terry Reintke has offered a farewell speech to the UK, saying “Our friendship will always be stronger than Brexit”.

The German politician told the European Parliament: “The best deal the UK could get was to stay part of the European Union. No matter what happens … our interdependence will always be stronger than Brexit.”

Analysts at JPMorgan, the US investment bank, have raised their estimation of the likeihood of a trade deal being reached to 70 per cent, up from 60 per cent.“

Our sense is that the likelihood of a deal has moved up from the 60-40 we had as the week began, and we now mark that up to 70-30,” JPMorgan analyst Malcolm Barr told clients.

“In our view, solutions to all of the issues listed above which both sides would be able to live can be designed, even if the process of getting to them is difficult.”

Boris Johnson has said the EU must bring something to the table in Brexit trade negotiations, threatening that the UK will leave without a deal if Brussels does not move negotiations forward.

“Our door is open, we’ll keep talking but I have to say things are looking difficult, there’s a gap that needs to be bridged,” the prime minister told the BBC moments ago.

“We hope that our EU friends will see sense and come to the table with something themselves.

“And, if that doesn’t happen, then come 1 January we will be trading on WTO terms.”

Chief negotiator on the EU side, Michel Barnier, took to the floor of the European Parliament chamber earlier to warn that there were “just hours” to reach agreement in Brexit trade talks.

“I cannot say what will come in this last home straight of negotiations. We have to be prepared for all eventualities.”