let me ask you what simon coveney, the irish foreign minister has been saying.d our nerve and allow the negotiations, the negotiators, to ensure progress forward, even at this late stage. he says that this joint statement on the brexit negotiations is a good signal. there is what simon coveney is saying. do you think it is a good signal what they have said today? given the alternative was that they just said there is no point talking any more, we are going for a no deal, if your end point is you want ideal, and we have seen the analysis that no deal would lead to a 2% hit to gdp next year, on top of the long—term consequences of moving to more distant with the eu, that is what the office for budget responsibility said recently. if you record the deal is a good thing, carrying on talking is a much better place to be rather than suspending things. the people for whom it is potentially worse or if this really does end up, just because neither side dares pulls the rug and this is actually just a front, because no one dares walk away and they think they will end on n

simon coveney has said there are extra factors thrown into the mix possibly by the u.k..greement over 12 miles to 200 miles. that is easier to solve. then there is the issue of licensed boats off the coast of the u.k.. it gets very granular quickly. my sense suggests that could be fixable. when it comes down to is the level playing field, vonnie. that is the more difficult thing. vonnie: absolutely. you will be sticking around because we anticipate this to go on. for more now, you can see the u.k. house of commons debating the brexit internal markets bill. more brexit next from amanda and me. this is bloomberg. ♪ - i'm doug hirsch. you may already know that goodrx can help you save up to 80% on your prescriptions. unfortunately, many americans can't get to a doctor right now. the good news is that for many health issues, you can see a doctor online. it's easy. just go to goodrx.com, and with a few clicks, you'll be treated by a licensed medical professional, all from the comfort of your own home. visits are confidential and affordable. need a prescription? your doctor can

the irish foreign affairs minister simon coveney says there is increasing pessimism and frustration withino my colleague lucy hockings a little earlier today. clearly there had been hopes that the dinner last night between ursula von der leyen and borisjohnson would have resulted in at least a suggestion of a breakthrough but that clearly hasn't happened. and so instead what they have decided to do is ask their negotiating teams to re—engage but they have also said i think for the first time a very definitive timeline and they have both agreed now that there needs to be clarity and a firm decision, the language is, on sunday, so we have a couple of days now to find a way of closing gaps that are really quite big in the context of the difference between the two sides and there is an increasing pessimism within the european union but also increasing frustration that it has come to this. because de eu's position has been consistent and clear for the last 12 months, certainly since the withdrawal agreement was agreed, and the insistence on the eu side that there has to be free but also fair co

the irish foreign minister, simon coveney, says there has been a "last—minute hitch" on the terms ofy at home from boxing day as the toughest level of covid restrictions are widened. the uk's health secretary says the increase is necessary to contain a faster—spreading variant of the virus. 6,000 lorries are still waiting to leave the uk and cross the channel. the hauliers need covid tests before the are allowed into france. president trump has issued full pardons to his former campaign chairman paul manafort and long—time fixer roger stone. the move sweeps away the most high—profile convictions from the mueller inquiry into russian interference in the us election four years ago.

letter coincided with the pat finucane case making headlines, and the dup leader notes comments by simon coveney through a public inquiry. mrs foster writes... this afternoon, an irish government spokesman said the taoiseach will meet mrs foster to discuss the issues she had raised. julian o'neill, bbc newsline. england's new coronavirus rules have presented many families with dilemmas — but they're proving particularly tricky for one retired couple in yorkshire. a county boundary running through their property means it straddles tiers 2 and 3, and the rules change as they go from the house to the garden. from the north and west yorkshire boundary, corinne wheatley reports. be careful, because it's slippery. you're walking in part of the garden that's harrogate. it's all harrogate, all the way up to this square flowerbed here. and then it suddenly becomes leeds, because of the culvert that runs right through the garden, all the way down to wolf meadows park. so when you are inside the house, you are in... harrogate. in harrogate, so you're in tier 2. in the conservatory, i think we're in tier 3.

the irish foreign affairs minister simon coveney says there is an increasing pessimism and frustrationty of a deal. he was speaking to my colleague lucy hockings a little earlier today. clearly there had been hopes that the dinner last night would have resulted in at least a suggestion of a breakthrough but that clearly hasn't happened and, so, instead, what they've done is ask their negotiating teams to re—engage but they've also said for the first time, seta they've also said for the first time, set a very definitive timeline and had said there needs to be clarity. so, we have a couple of days now to find a way of closing gaps that are quite big in the context of the differences between the two sides and there is increasing pessimism within the european union, but also increasing frustration that it has come to this. the eu's session has been consistent and clear for the last 12 months, certainly since the withdrawal agreement had been agreed. and the insistence on the eu side that there has to be free but fair competition between these two big economies is something that is not new.

the irish foreign minister, simon coveney, says there has been a "last—minute hitch" on the terms ofishing rights. another 6 million people in england are told to stay at home from boxing day as the toughest level of covid restrictions are widened. the uk's health secretary says the increase is necessary to contain a faster—spreading variant of the virus. 6,000 lorries are still waiting to leave the uk and cross the channel. the hauliers need covid tests before the are allowed into france. president trump has issued full pardons to his former campaign chairman paul manafort and long—time fixer roger stone. the move sweeps away the most high—profile convictions from the mueller inquiry into russian interference in the us election four years ago. now on bbc news, the untold story of 13 year old hazel hill — and her crucial role in the design of the famous spitfire and hurricane fighter planes — in the run up to the battle of britain. it's a wonderful aircraft, absolutely wonderful. it fitted you like a glove, you see, that's what i liked about it. without victory in the battle of brita

ireland's foreign minister, simon coveney, is among those talking up the prospect of an agreement.e said, "we are more likely to get a deal than not because i think it's in everybody‘s interest." "it was" he said "97% or 98% done". any deal would need approval from parliament. with borisjohnson‘s majority that won't be a problem. but will labour give it their backing? we will have to look of course at the content of a deal but also any legislation that comes to parliament. we won't give them a blank cheque but i think i have been very clear both today and on previous programmes with you, andrew, that the most important thing is that the government get a deal. we want that deal to be delivered, we will look at any legislation that comes to parliament. eu countries would need to ratify the agreement, too. one french politician said it needs to be in all their interests. this is the framing of the relationship between the uk and the eu for years, decades to come. and, so, we have to be absolutely convinced on both sides of the channel that it is the right framing for this relationship

the irish foreign minister simon coveney says the extension is cause for optimism i still think a dealams are inching this process forward. i believe that if no progress at all had been made in the next few days then ursula von der leyen in borisjohnson wouldn't have mandated these negotiations to continue and instead we would be focusing solely on contingency plans for a no trade deal and no future relationship agreement. and while of course we continue to plan for the worst scenario course we continue to plan for the woi’st scenario as we course we continue to plan for the worst scenario as we have been for many months now, we are also very relieved to see these negotiations continue for a few more days yet, to try to find a way of closing the remaining gaps. there are not many remaining gaps. there are not many remaining gaps. there are not many remaining gaps left but they are still quite white, and there is an enormous effort by very experienced negotiators to try to get a deal that both sides can live with, that would create winners and losers in this negotiation but instead try

simon coveney, island's foreign affairs minister.rrors the growing pessimistic mood here in brussels and also in london. but she did suggest that the offer that is on the table is a good one for the united kingdom, and to used the word sovereignty, saying that the uk wouldn't lose any sovereignty by accepting its terms and conditions. of course, sovereignty is a very big thing for borisjohnson. he says the whole point of brexit is to take back control, and he doesn't want to cede any sovereignty. she said that in the future if the eu raised its standards in some different areas, whether that is food or agriculture, the uk wouldn't necessarily have to follow, wouldn't have to mirror that, but there would be implications, and uk sources are saying, although this sounds like a friendly offer, those implications may be very harsh tariffs or taxes on uk goods in the future, and this wouldn't amount to taking back control. we've also heard from president macron of france, he said he hopes in the future of the two sides can enjoy a harmonio

we spoke about this time yesterday, simon coveney for foreign affairs minister was pretty upbeat aboutt seems to have changed quite radically in the past 12 hours. what is the latest you are hearing? the past 12 hours. what is the latest you are hearing ?|j the past 12 hours. what is the latest you are hearing? i think the irish government has been very anxious that there be a deal because ireland will be quite badly hit by the economic fallout of a new deal situation, —— no—deal. both dublin and london are co—guarantors of the good friday agreement and the settle m e nt good friday agreement and the settlement in northern ireland so no—deal certainly won't help things in northern ireland, but i think overnight it was clear that both sides were notjust not getting anywhere but there was a feeling that they had drifted even further apart on key issues. at the end of last week, the uk felt that the eu we re last week, the uk felt that the eu were putting fresh obstacles in the way of progress, especially over the level playing field, and now this morning michel barnier the chief negotiat

i‘m not sure if you could hear what simon coveney was saying, but he said negotiations seem stalled andof commons today. because depending on the fact that, if it will rerepresent the provision social security threatening the commitment to the withdrawal agreement or not, it does reintroduce in this time. it will be a very determinant element for the uk inside, because it will signal the willingness to... at least provide... a new... a new element of fairness and confidence in this negotiation. or the reverse, fairness and confidence in this negotiation. orthe reverse, it fairness and confidence in this negotiation. or the reverse, it will bea negotiation. or the reverse, it will be a provocation, because on the european side they have clearly, they have been very vocal on the fa ct they have been very vocal on the fact that those provisions were introduced in the text, the european parliament itself already said that it wouldn‘t, it wouldn‘t be in a position to ratify any deal, because it was a threat not only with the withdrawal agreement to the implementation of any future potential