Brexit latest news: 'There is a path to agreement now', Ursula von der Leyen claims

• Exclusive: MPs primed to vote for a Brexit deal next week

• PM urges families to self-isolate before Christmas

• Philip Johnston: Only the vaccine can save us now 

• Cummings received pay rise of 40 per cent last year

There is a "path to an agreement now", Ursula von der Leyen has claimed this morning, amid growing signs that a Brexit trade deal could be struck by the end of the week. 

Speaking in Brussels this morning, the European Commission President said she could still not guarantee "whether there will be a deal or not" but added: "the path may be very narrow but it is there."

It comes after The Telegraph disclosed that MPs have been primed to vote for a possible Brexit trade deal at the beginning of next week as hopes rise of a breakthrough in Brussels. 

Senior Government sources have confirmed that Boris Johnson is preparing to push back the Christmas recess should he secure an agreement with the EU by the weekend. 

Plans being studied by Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Commons leader, involve MPs and peers being asked to sit on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday if there is a deal, with December 24 still under discussion.

However, Mrs von der Leyen also warned MEPs that the two sides were still to bridge issues over fishing and the level playing field, adding that "this is now a case of being so close and yet being so far away from each other."

She said that the EU and UK had agreed a "strong mechanism" of "non-regression" on labour, social and environmental standards.

Progress had been made on subsidy law towards an agreement that would allow Brussels to take unilateral actions such as tariffs to redress unfair competition from the UK, she said.

"And of course difficulties still remain on the question of how to really future proof fair competition. But I'm also glad to report that issues linked to governance by now are largely being resolved," she said.

"Honourable Members, the next days are going to be decisive," she added.

​Follow the latest updates below.

09:24 AM

Cummings' Brexit bonus

Dominic Cummings received a pay rise of at least 40 per cent last year, sparking an angry backlash among other special advisers.

The controversial chief adviser to the Prime Minister, who is currently in the process of leaving his Government post after he lost a bitter Number 10 power struggle, saw his salary leap from the £95,000-£99,999 band to the £140,000-£144,999 band.

The hike, which was disclosed in Whitehall transparency data published on Tuesday, came after the Conservatives won a commanding majority at the general election last December.

It pitched Mr Cummings earnings close to the £150,000 salary that Boris Johnson takes home.

The ex-Vote Leave chief's pay increase provoked a backlash among his colleagues, who claimed he had often turned down pay rises for other special advisers and repeatedly said special advisers did not do the job for the money.

Read more here.

08:52 AM

Brexiteer QC: Bitter irony if MPs are denied right to scrutinise trade deal

There are growing signs that a Brexit trade deal could be struck by the end of the week and pushed rapidly through Parliament before Christmas. 

Writing in today's Telegraph, Martin Howe QC, a leading barrister on EU law, sends Boris Johnson a note of caution:

You can read the full piece here.  

08:46 AM

Robert Jenrick: Less is more over Christmas

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick has said families can "choose to do less" than what is allowed under restrictions provided by the Government for Christmas.

He told BBC Breakfast: "My sense is that many people, older members of the public, are coming to the conclusion that with the great news of the vaccine it might be wise to wait and get together with family and friends a little bit later on, but I strongly feel that this is something where members of the public need to use their own judgment.

"The Government can set a legal framework, and we have done and that applies across the whole of the United Kingdom, but we can't legislate for every eventuality and everything that's happening in people's own lives."

Mr Jenrick added: "My point is that the legal framework provides the law but with respect to every restriction you don't have to go that far, you can obviously choose to do less.

"The very clear guidance, I think, from the Government today is you exercise good judgment, think about the particular vulnerabilities of your own family and friends who might be coming together and what's right for you'."

08:44 AM

Final call to sign off Christmas plan at 10am

Michael Gove, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, is due to hold a second meeting with the devolved administrations this morning to discuss the UK-wide Christmas plan. 

Last night it was suggested that they would opt to maintain the current plan, although sources in Wales did not rule out tightening their rules unilaterally...

08:42 AM

'Many in Manchester would prefer Tier 2 over Xmas'

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham said that, given the choice, many people in his region would choose moving down into Tier 2 with a "more modest" Christmas.

Speaking ahead of the formal review of the tiers system today, Mr Burnham argued that Manchester should move down the tiers although he accepted some parts may be forced to stay in tier three. 

Discussing the five-day window over Christmas,  he also suggested Mancunians would prefer to scale back their plans rather than face having to maintain more draconian restrictions into January.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "If the choice today was, for me, Tier 2 with a more modest Christmas, I think most people in Greater Manchester would say 'Absolutely, we will go for that steady-as-she-goes approach through Christmas and the New Year'.

"A month ago I said the balance wasn't right here, we were adopting something of a feast-famine approach of very strict restrictions to allow too much loosening over Christmas - I still stand by that.

"There's another reason I would just put into the mix - if we place cities in Tier 3 through this period, particularly around the New Year, I think the closure of hospitality in a blanket way will create more social gatherings at home and that's what the experts say to us creates most spread of the virus.

"I think a more sensible approach will be Tier 2 with a more modest Christmas."

08:33 AM

UK looking for a trade deal with India, says Raab

Britain can look for free trade deals with "India and the Indo-Pacific region" when it leaves its transition period with the EU, the Foreign Secretary has said.

Speaking in New Delhi, Dominic Raab said the UK has been “sometimes been too myopically-focused just on Europe".

However, he added that once the transition period ended it would “regain control” and be able to make new deals "where growth opportunities in the future will be".

08:29 AM

Why not try a Zoom Christmas?

Robert Jenrick has suggested families could meet virtually over Christmas, highlighting that other faiths have held celebrations online during the pandemic.

After reiterating that the public would use their own judgment within the restrictions, he told BBC Breakfast: "In my experience, those conversations are happening across the country.

"I've been struck by how many people have actually concluded that, on this occasion, Christmas will be altogether different, will be much smaller and potentially meeting up with elderly relatives just over the marvels of technology.

"We've seen throughout the year that's perfectly possible, other faiths, for example, have done it, whether it's for Diwali, Ramadan, Passover, and made a success of it, so there's no reason to believe that Christians and members of the public can't do the same."

08:17 AM

Public urged to reconsider Christmas plans

"Easter can be the new Christmas," the Communities Secretary has said as the Government prepares to ask people to exercise maximum caution over the five-day window when the rules are relaxed.

Ahead of a second meeting of the four UK governments this morning, Robert Jenrick said the legal framework would “continue” but insisted that it was “incumbent on each and every family” to discuss whether they really needed to meet up. 

It comes after sources at yesterday’s meeting, chaired by Michael Gove, revealed that Nicola Sturgeon had proposed reducing the number of households in a Christmas bubble from three to two, as well as cutting the number of days. 

However, all four nations indicated they could potentially live with maintaining the status quo. 

Speaking to Sky News this morning, Mr Jenrick said: “The legal framework will continue but because the rate of infection in  many parts of the country, because we can see the international examples like Thanksgiving, it is incumbent on each and every family across the country , this morning and in the days ahead to have that conversation around the breakfast table and ask 'is this right for our family?'"

"This is a virus that thrives on social interaction, so bringing more people together, even over this short period of time, is not cost-free. It will have consequences in terms of increasing the rate. It will rise.”

Mr Jenrick suggested some people may therefore want to put off large family gatherings until the spring.

"Easter can be the new Christmas," he added.