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EU chiefs are giving the UK just 48 hours to come up with a proposal to break the Brexit deadlock, it is reported today.

The clock is ticking after "difficult" and "robust" talks ended in stalemate earlier this week despite attempts to revise the Irish 'backstop'.

The UK originally wanted a time limit, exit clause or "alternative arrangements" to the backstop, which could trap the UK under EU customs rules from 2021.

But with just 22 days left to Brexit, an EU source told Politico: "The requests were insane".

It means Theresa May now faces losing a crunch vote by MPs next Tuesday on whatever Brexit deal she's been able to stitch together.

Chancellor Philip Hammond today said it was "likely" MPs would then vote to delay Brexit - and claimed that could lead to the "compromise" of a softer Brexit.

(Image: AFP/Getty Images)

The Cabinet minister refused to rule out the possibility of a customs union with the EU.

That prospect was backed last night by the House of Lords - and, separately and significantly, by Jeremy Corbynin back channel talks with Tory MPs.

Mr Hammond said: "The Labour Party has been talking for a long time about the idea of a customs union grafted onto the Prime Minister's deal.

"Those of my colleagues who feel very strongly against that proposal need to think very very hard about the implications of voting against the Prime Minister’s deal next Tuesday.

"Because we will then be in unknown territory where a consensus will then have to be forged across the House of Commons.

"And that will inevitably mean compromises being made."

(Image: AFP/Getty Images)

Last night the Brexit Department announced the UK and EU agreed to consider a "joint work stream" to consider alternative arrangements to the Irish backstop.

But it's not the alternative many hope for.

It would only come up with this alternative after March 29, once a deal has been signed off.

(Image: AFP/Getty Images)

The EU is said to be willing to work through the weekend. But it needs something to work with and it claims the ball is in Britain's court.

A grim diplomatic note from the EU was leaked to BuzzFeed which described a meeting to discuss the UK's plans as "negative" - and claimed Britain was seeking a “legal solution to a political problem.”

Furious Attorney General Geoffrey Cox today admitted talks with the EU will "almost certainly" continue through the weekend - but said he was "surprised" at reports of "insanity".

He also bizarrely boasted about the contents of his underpants, saying his plan has "come to be called Cox's codpiece."

"What I'm concerned to ensure is that what is inside the codpiece is in full working order," he added.

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The Attorney General told MPs: "We are discussing detailed, coherent, careful proposals.

"I am surprised to hear the comments that have emerged over the last 48 hours that the proposals are not clear.

"They are as clear as day and we are continuing to discuss them."

He added: "We have been engaging in focused, detailed and careful discussions with the Union and we continue to seek legally-binding changes to the backstop which ensure that it cannot be indefinite. These discussions will be resumed shortly."

(Image: STEPHANIE LECOCQ/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

Alternatives were said to include widening the scope of an 'arbitration panel' on whether the UK can quit the backstop, or a watered-down version of the original plan.

At the very latest the final agreement needs to be made by around dawn on Monday, in time to be put to MPs in a motion on Monday afternoon before Tuesday's vote.

If Tuesday's vote fails, there will be a vote on Wednesday on whether to proceed with No Deal.

If No Deal is blocked, there will be a vote on Thursday on whether to delay Brexit.

But Jeremy Corbyn could throw a spanner in the works by stitching up an amendment with Tory MPs to push for a customs union.

That could allow a softer Brexit but anger Labour MPs, who thought they'd finally persuaded the leader the throw his weight behind a second referendum.

Writing in today's Mirror, Mr Corbyn suggested MPs were coming round to the idea of a soft Brexit.

He said he was "more certain than ever that we can find a way to work across Parliament to force the government to back a sensible Brexit plan that protects jobs".

(Image: Philip Coburn)

One worried minister told the Sun: “If we lose on Tuesday, absolutely everything is going to be s***.

"I cannot see how we go forward with whatever softer Brexit that gets imposed on us without the party splitting in two.

"It will be a complete disaster.”

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Meanwhile, French Europe minister Nathalie Loiseau restated that the 585-page Brexit deal cannot be reopened, and insisted the controversial Irish backstop was a "last resort solution".

She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the deal was the "best possible solution", and said: "We cannot reopen this negotiation on the Withdrawal Agreement because it is balanced...

"We don't like the backstop, we don't want to have to implement it, and if we have to, we don't want to stay in the backstop.