Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar
Ireland has not received any indications that there have been "dramatic moves" by either side towards progress in Brexit talks, Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said on Thursday.
"We don't have any indications yet of any particular dramatic moves,” Varadkar told reporters when asked about a Bloomberg report on Wednesday that the British and German governments had abandoned key Brexit demands.
Varadkar said he was not aware of the detail of the report but that there had been "a fair bit of kite flying and a fair bit of posturing" on Brexit over the last couple of weeks.
British fruit and vegetable farmers will be able to recruit non-European Union migrants on temporary visas after Brexit to help ease labour shortages during busy periods, the British government said on Thursday.The agriculture sector relies heavily on EU workers and farmers have warned a shortage of labour since Britain's 2016 vote to quit the bloc will worsen when freedom of movement rules end, leaving fruit rotting in the fields.The pilot scheme will run from spring 2019 until the end of December 2020, during the planned transition period following Britain's March 2019 EU exit, and will allow 2,500 workers from outside the EU to come to Britain for up to six months."We have listened to the powerful arguments from farmers about the need for seasonal labour to keep the horticulture industry productive and profitable," Environment Secretary Michael Gove said in a statement."This two year pilot will ease the workforce pressures faced by farmers during busy times of the year. We will review the pilot's results as we look at how best to support the longer-term needs of industry outside the EU."Food production is Britain's largest manufacturing sector, with sales of 70 billion pounds in 2017, according to the Office for National Statistics. 
UK sets out plans for visas for non-EU migrant farm workers post-Brexit
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday said it was important to negotiate Britain's exit from the European Union in a way that ensured continued good and close relations.Merkel said she and Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis discussed Britain's decision to leave the bloc during his inaugural visit to Berlin as prime minister."We have the same view that this is regrettable, but that we must try to negotiate in such a way that very good, very close relations are possible with Britain afterwards," Merkel told reporters at a news conference. 
Merkel says EU, Britain must negotiate Brexit to ensure close ties
Britain is still working towards reaching a Brexit deal with the European Union in October, Prime Minister Theresa May said on Wednesday.With Britain yet to secure an agreement to define its future relations with Brussels, officials have said the October deadline is expected to slip into November."We are working for a good deal. We are still working, as are the European Union, for the timetable that was set of October because we are leaving the European Union on the 29 March 2019. We will need to pass legislation in this House prior to our leaving," May told parliament. Britain would now vote 59-41 to stay in the EUFormer Bank of England chief says UK heading for 'Brexit in name only'
UK PM May says still working towards October Brexit deal deadline