There is a “narrow path” to a Brexit deal this week, but the two sides have to agree the details by the end of Tuesday, the EU’s negotiator has said.

Michel Barnier said it was “time to turn good intentions into legal text” if EU leaders were to back the terms of the UK’s exit at a summit on Thursday.

But “We need to deal with the facts,” said the Irish deputy PM

While his boss Irish PM Leo Varadkar said talks were “moving in the right direction” but gaps between the sides remained.

The UK is still due to leave the EU at 23:00 GMT on 31 October.

BBC correspondent Ben Wright said there had been “a yo-yo of expectations”, but the sense coming from Downing Street was that talk of a text being agreed in the next day was “probably overdone”.

Brussels BBC correspondent Adam Fleming said the widely-held view there was that the UK was unlikely to be leaving on 31 October, and the question was whether an extension could be short in order to iron out some small issues, or had to be longer, maybe even until the end of January 2020?

The opposition parties at Westminster would undoubtedly prefer the latter, as it would make it far easier for them to win a general election (yes, there is going to be one at some point sooner rather than later), held on their own terms, while Boris & co would undoubtedly prefer the former as it makes it easier for them to win.

I predict there will be the outlines of a deal agreed this week, but the BBC’s reporters seem more sceptical…

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Guess we will soon find out if I am right or wrong?