EU needs clear sign UK will get real in Brexit talks, says Irish minister

Boris Johnson is due to tell European council president UK still wants deal by 15 October

The EU's Michel Barnier will not move Brexit talks into the so-called tunnel phase of more intense negotiations unless he gets a very clear signal" from the UK that it is willing to show some flexibility and realism" in its approach to a deal, Ireland's foreign affairs minister has said.

Simon Coveney's warning came as Boris Johnson was due to call the European council president, Charles Michel, to tell him the clock was ticking on a deal.