Prime Minister Boris Johnson is in a race against the clock to secure a fresh agreement for the meeting of European leaders starting in Brussels on Thursday, David Davis, former Brexit Secretary, warned the European Commission has gone to the “last minute” on “every negotiation” it has carried out, claiming they even “stop the clock” on the last day. He told Sky News: “Every negotiation the European Commission has carried out, they go to the last minute. Sometimes literally the last minute, sometimes they even stop the clock on the last day.

“It will be nip and tuck, it will be scary, but it’s always was going to be scary. What’s important here now, is you’ve got to have that deadline. Where we started this discussion, as I said, it’s always the last minute.

“But if you keep moving the last minute, the European Union will not make the necessary concessions themselves.

“So you’ve got to draw a line at some point. What then happens with the European Commission is they then stop the clock.”

Sky News political editor Beth Rigby asked: “You seriously think that they might just stop the clock and allow the negotiations to – “

Mr Davis interjected: “It won’t run through October 31 but it might run for another day or two.

“There’s little doubt that the deal we will come up with this week will not be perfect from the point of view of people like me, or what you call the Spartans, or whatever.

“It won’t be perfect from any of our point of our view, it’s more concessions than we would have liked to have made. Certainly on Northern Ireland, and maybe in other ways too.”

Speaking on Tuesday morning as he arrived at the General Affairs Council, EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier said work to secure a deal has been “intense”, adding: “Because even if an agreement will be difficult, more and more difficult to be frank, it is still possible this week.”

He said: “Reaching an agreement is still possible. Obviously any agreement must work for everyone, the whole of the United Kingdom and the whole of the European Union. Let me add also that it is high time to turn good intentions into a legal text.”

The Brussels negotiator pledged to plough on his talks after it emerged that David Frost, Britain’s chief negotiator, tabled new technical customs papers today – which cover precise details on a new market surveillance regime.

But Mr Barnier urged EU ministers to proceed with caution until a legally operative text is provided by UK officials, according to European sources.

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He told the politicians that these proposals would have to be agreed in a “legal text” by this evening if they are to be presented to at the European Council.

But Mr Barnier hinted that a partial text could be shown to leaders, in order to win their approval, and then concluded during a final round of talks ahead of the UK’s October 31 exit date.

He told EU ministers that this was possible after Britain moved towards the bloc’s original proposals for a Northern Ireland-only backstop.

Meanwhile, after meeting the European Council’s president-elect Charles Michel, Finland’s Antti Rinne said there was “no time” for the UK Prime Minister to achieve an agreement.

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick rejected the remarks, stressing a “great deal” of progress had been made and negotiators are working “very intensively”.

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