Brexit talks explained: why now is a crucial moment in negotiations

Why is now a key moment in the Brexit negotiations?Donald Tusk, the president of the European council, said last month in Salzburg that he would need to see maximum progress on the problem of agreeing an all-weather “backstop” solution for avoiding a hard border on the island of Ireland by the time of the leaders’ summit starting in Brussels on Wednesday.The EU’s backstop proposal was that Northern Ireland would in effect stay in the single market and the customs union wh