Sky Views: Nothing is certain in Brexit negotiations
Faisal Islam, Political Editor There were some glum faces around the table in Brussels as the UK and European Commission negotiating teams attempted to make progress on Ireland and the border. The discussions on maintaining the current open border with Ireland after Brexit were difficult and sufficiently tense that some feared a walkout. UK negotiators have still not detailed their plans for the border within, or without, a free trade agreement with the EU. But the Barnier team is viewed by Britain to have jumped the gun in spelling out the "fallback option" of essentially extending the single market for goods to a post Brexit Northern Ireland. For his part, when questioned by Belfast politicians, the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier suggested he was only doing what he could do in detailing the full alignment option, given that other British-led options were not materialising. The question now, in the fortnight before the March European Council, is w