Theresa May has reportedly secured a ‘secret deal’ with EU that will avoid hard Irish border

The report claims the British PM has secured some concessions for the UK following Brexit

Theresa May has apparently worked out a secret deal with Brussels which will keep the UK in a temporary customs union with the EU. This would also completely avoid the need for a "backstop" solution, which would have seen a hard border return between the Republic Of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Instead, the EU would accept that regulatory checks on goods can be carried out in factories and shops rather than at the border. The report by The Sunday Times revealed that preparations for this deals are "far more advanced than previously disclosed", eventually leading to a document of around 50 pages being published. May apparently hopes to bring the deal to her cabinet on Tuesday, with enough progress made on the deal with the EU by Friday to announce a special summit to announce it officially, before Parliament finally voting on it in December. However, the newspaper also reported that the new deal will include an "exit clause" designed to convince those who support Brexit that remaining in the customs union is only temporary.