UK can get Brexit deal and leave by Oct 31

Britain and the European Union have moved a lot in the seven weeks that Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been in office and the two sides can still agree a deal to secure Brexit by Oct 31, Junior Brexit Minister Kwasi Kwarteng said on Friday.

"We've moved a long way in seven weeks," he told BBC radio. "What we've heard over the last seven weeks is considerable movement on the part of the EU on this question of the Withdrawal Agreement and particularly on the backstop."

"I am confident we can get a deal. I am also confident that we can get this deal through the House of Commons and leave on the 31st of October."