PM spoke to Merkel at 8 a.m. this morning - No 10 source says she said there could only be a deal if Northern Ireland stays in Customs Union, if not, then deal is 'overwhelmingly unlikely', no 10 (Johnson's office) says PM stressed to Merkel UK believes they had put forward a reasonable new deal, but with no desire to engage on EU side + this demand on NI staying in Customs Union a deal is 'essentially impossible'.

Laura Kuenssberg

Categorized in : Top News

Andrea Leadsom flatly denies she has changed her CV.

Laura Kuenssberg

andrea deny changed

Andrea Leadsom also denies any tax avoidance, says she 'shopped around' for a good deal and it was from a British bank that booked the biz in Jersey.

Laura Kuenssberg

jersey british deny

Andrea Leadsom promises to publish tax return tomorrow if she gets on ballot - it's boring.

Laura Kuenssberg

return tomorrow promise

Human beings rarely do things for a binary reason.

Laura Kuenssberg

human things binary reason

I would die in a ditch for the impartiality of the BBC.

Laura Kuenssberg

bbc ditch would die

What I was excited about was the opportunity for punters to be part of politics. The whole idea was to allow the voices of people outside this weirdo palace of Westminster to be heard. I thought the whole social media thing might be really positive.

Laura Kuenssberg

social-media politics positive people

Someone like Boris Johnson is reluctant to answer questions about ambition because then the story becomes all about his ambition. Sure, he's got ambition - that's no secret at all. But also, he's very strongly motivated to try to get the kind of Brexit he believes in.

Laura Kuenssberg

brexit story someone ambition

I work long hours. I work very, very hard.

Laura Kuenssberg

hard hours work long

I don't read the comments people write about me - it's not worth it.

Laura Kuenssberg

worth me worth-it people

We want people to watch and consume what we do, but we are not trying to sell anything. So that does give us a freedom in a way.

Laura Kuenssberg

freedom trying people way

It's worth knowing that there's very different sets of regulation for the print press and for broadcast media. They're different things, particularly during campaign periods.

Laura Kuenssberg

worth things media different

Twitter is a really interesting, useful tool. In lots of ways, it's an exciting place to be. But it's also a megaphone for the kinds of things people used to shout at their telly - and now they send you a message.

Laura Kuenssberg

place things you people

People are deciding - if they don't like a particular point of view or a particular paper, it goes out of business.

Laura Kuenssberg

view like business people

Our political system seems to be proving itself almost incapable of dealing with what's been put before it. The decisions it is making, or fluffing, are so vital and yet are inevitably so compromised by the endless political calculations of all involved.

Laura Kuenssberg

system decisions been political

Politics is a tough business.

Laura Kuenssberg

tough politics business

I think politics often seems remote, and anything we can do to show more of the workings - how you make the sausage - is useful.

Laura Kuenssberg

more think you politics

There's always that tension between policy and personality in politics, and as voters, we have that, too: we all vote on issues, but we also vote on whether we like the people who are put forward.

Laura Kuenssberg

vote politics personality people

I'm well rewarded for a job I massively enjoy doing. I think I'm paid very fairly.

Laura Kuenssberg

doing job think enjoy

The BBC should mirror the country.

Laura Kuenssberg

bbc mirror should country

I'm not friends with politicians. I'm not people's mate.

Laura Kuenssberg

mate politicians friends people