In 159 days, the United Kingdom will leave the European Union. As Brexit negotiations enter the final stage, we need to stand firm, hold our nerve and keep our eye on the prize – a good deal with our EU partners.

We’ve been working tirelessly towards that goal, and we’ve made a lot of progress. Most issues in the Withdrawal Agreement have been resolved – protecting the rights of EU citizens here and UK ex-pats in Europe, and winding down our legal ties after over 40 years of membership. We have made good progress on the issues relating to Gibraltar and the Sovereign Base Areas in Cyprus. We have agreed the financial settlement, and secured an approach to dispute settlement based on international arbitration, not the European Court. We have agreed an implementation period to give businesses time to plan and to facilitate a smooth departure.

We have also made good progress on the political declaration that will direct the UK and EU to negotiate an agreement covering our future relationship, a treaty-based special and deep partnership. The future relationship will build on our White Paper proposals – from trade to security, and all the other areas of cooperation we value.

Together, we’ve overcome many problems. Frustratingly, for both sides, two key issues remain. We are both committed to agreeing a “backstop” for Northern Ireland, in case there is any gap between the end of the implementation period and the start of the future relationship, to avoid any return to a hard border in Northern Ireland.