Is Boris Johnson about to snatch Brexit victory from the jaws of defeat?

The sudden smiles from Leo Varadkar, the Irish Taoiseach, after his meeting with Boris Johnson in the Wirral on Thursday caught everyone by surprise.

For the last three weeks EU diplomats and officials have been relentlessly pessimistic about the prospects of an agreement, with the EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, frankly telling the European Parliament they were "not in a position" to make a deal.

Then Mr Varadkar emerged from his three-hour meeting with Mr Johnson saying he was "confident" the two sides could cut a deal by the looming Oct 17 deadline at next week’s European Council summit in Brussels.

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