To try to up the pace of talks, Brexit Secretary Dominic declared that he expects an agreement by November 21 — sending the Pound soaring.
Mr Raab told the powerful Commons Brexit committee that he would come and update them once a deal had been “finalised” saying that date would be “suitable” to appear.
Last night the EU said a “new positive mood” was emerging from the talks, but Dublin said a breakthrough next month was dependent on Britain making a new offer to Brussels on the Irish border headache within a week.
Meanwhile David Davis warned Theresa May will “terrorise” her Cabinet into backing a compromise climb-down with “irrational” doomsday warnings about talks collapsing.
The arch-Brexiteer conceded “terror will win”, as neither London nor Brussels want a No Deal scenario so a compromise will be signed off by the browbeaten Cabinet.
Senior Whitehall sources said Mr Raab set a timeline for a deal to inject urgency back into the stalled talks.
With less than 150 days to go until Brexit day, it emerged last night that some EU leaders want to run down the clock to build pressure on Mrs May for more compromises.
The source added: “We’re not going to allow the EU to let all this slip into December. We want to keep up the drumbeat of getting a deal done by the end of November.”
The Cabinet must authorise hundreds of millions in spending by the end of this month for the UK’s economy to stand any chance of surviving a no deal scenario.
Officials insist that is the cut-off date to sign contracts for a raft of new IT systems and building projects to protect the nation’s borders.
But as little of the money is refundable, ministers are desperate to avoid spending it if at all possible.
Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom has also repeatedly warned the Cabinet that she will run out of time to hold a meaningful vote on the deal and then pass the giant Withdrawal and Implementation Bill to legislate for it in time for Brexit unless the process begins this month.
Reinforcing Mr Raab’s intervention yesterday, the PM’s official spokesman said: “We want to get a deal as soon as possible, and that is what we’re working to achieve”.
But the Government later clarified: “there is no set date for the negotiations to conclude”.
Mrs May issued another plea to business bosses last night not to panic over Brexit despite there being no deal yet.
The PM took the unusual decision to brief 150 of them personally on this week’s Budget as well as the state of the Brexit negotiations, alongside Chancellor Philip Hammond.
It came as Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt told MPs that his department is making contingency plans for having to rescue
British citizens from Europe in case flights are grounded under a No Deal Brexit scenario.
He told the Commons Foreign Affairs committee that officials across Europe were “absolutely ready for what might happen,” adding: “Everything we can do we are doing.”
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