Ministers are pressing Downing Street to make an interim deal with the EU an explicit option when the government sends its formal letter to Brussels to trigger article 50, the process that starts the two-year divorce talks. Theresa May has insisted she will still activate the article 50 process by March next year. Hard Brexiteers fear an interim deal is a Trojan horse that will leave the UK too closely bound with the EU. EU diplomats, now in frequent contact with pro-remain MPs, believe there is still scope to revive or develop aspects of David Cameron’s EU deal on migration, negotiated in February. Some ministers claim lawyers have told them that article 50 of the Lisbon treaty allows the departing country to stop the negotiating process right up to the last moment.

Source: The Guardian November 06, 2016 18:00 UTC