Brexit news – live: Deal must be struck next week, Ireland warns amid border chaos fears

Number 10 has refused to comment on “speculation” that the prime minister’s communications director Lee Cain could be made his chief of staff.

A Downing Street spokesperson said: “I’m not going to comment on the speculation today about personnel matters in Number 10 I’m afraid.”

Negotiations on a trade deal between the UK and EU continue, but there is little hope of a breakthrough this week, with Ireland’s foreign minister saying he expects more talks next week.  

The negotiations led by Lord Frost and Michel Barnier are likely to continue into tomorrow.

The prime minister’s official spokesperson said: “Time is in short supply and for our part we continue to work very hard to seek to bridge the gaps which remain between our two positions.”

Labour has criticised the government’s plan to deal with homelessness as offering “neither the leadership nor the funding” to keep all rough sleepers safe this winter.

Thangam Debbonaire, the shadow housing minister, said the government’s pledge of £15m towards tackling homelessness will only be given to the 10 councils with the highest rough sleeping rates, and urged them to do more.

Ms Debbonaire warned that the country is facing a “perfect storm” and the cold weather fund is “lower than last year”.

She said: “Many of those brought off the streets have returned, thousands more are newly homeless, with a record high 50 per cent increase in young people sleeping rough since last year in London alone.”

Kelly Tolhurst, the housing minister, responded by saying the government has provided “unprecedented support” which has saved “hundreds of lives”.

Australia’s offshore asylum system did not work and it is “deeply concerning” that the UK may be considering replicating the policy, a human rights lawyer has told MPs.

Madeline Gleeson, an Australian lawyer specialising in international human rights and refugee law, told the Commons Home Affairs Committee on Wednesday that the legal and humanitarian implications of the policy which sees asylum seekers detained off the coast while their claims are processed should also give cause for concern.

Ms Gleeson said: “I think it’s deeply concerning that any country would consider trying to replicate what Australia has done.

“It wasn’t effective in the policy goal that it was seeking to achieve and on top of that, the legal and humanitarian concerns should be cause for great pause, certainly for any state which is a signatory to international conventions but more than that, any state that considers itself to be a democratic society based on respect for common decency really.”

The government has been urged to “save” football clubs in the north of England which are being hit by the coronavirus.

Tory former minister Jake Berry said many people in the south of England enjoy opera and ballet, but football clubs are what matter to those living further north.

The former northern powerhouse minister compared Accrington Stanley to the Royal Ballet as he insisted action is required from Westminster to help protect clubs that are the “cornerstone” of communities. 

University students in Wales will be asked to undergo rapid coronavirus testing before returning home for Christmas, the Welsh government has said.

Universities will also end the majority of “in person” lessons in the week ending 8 December, allowing time for students who test positive to isolate for 14 days before reuniting with their families.

Students will also be asked to minimise their social contact with others in the run up to the end of term and told to sign up for the new Lateral Flow Test pilot from their university if they plan on travelling home.

The self-administered test delivers results in 30 minutes and uses a nose and throat swab.

The test should be taken within 24 hours of a student’s intended travel date, with testing facilities set to become available at participating universities within the next few weeks.

Travel should be planned for no later than 9 December, the Welsh government said, allowing time to rearrange plans in case students need to self-isolate.

A Brexit deal must be struck by next week or “we have real problems”, the Irish foreign minister has warned.

Simon Coveney raised the chances of the UK crashing out without a trade agreement, amid suggestions that the EU is preparing a ‘take-it-or-leave-it’ offer within days.

Scotland has recorded 64 deaths from coronavirus in the past 24 hours, the highest since May 6, Nicola Sturgeon has announced.

It means 3,143 people have now died within 28 days of testing positive for the virus. 

The first minister told the Scottish government’s coronavirus briefing 1,261 positive tests were recorded in the past 24 hours, taking the daily test positivity rate to 6.5 per cent, down from 9.5 per cent on Tuesday.

A total of 76,448 people have tested positive in Scotland, up from 75,187 on Tuesday.