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A Downing Street spokesperson said:

Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar spoke by phone for almost an hour this evening.

They shared perspectives on the Withdrawal Agreement. The Prime Minister indicated that the Withdrawal Agreement in its current form will not get through the House of Commons, that the backstop would need to be removed, and that an alternative solution is required. The Taoiseach reiterated the EU27 position that the Withdrawal Agreement cannot be reopened, and emphasised the importance of the legally operable guarantee to ensure no hard border and continued free trade on the island of Ireland.

The Prime Minister made clear that the Common Travel Area, which long predates the UK and Ireland joining the EU, would not be affected by the ending of freedom of movement after Brexit.

The two leaders reiterated their desire to see the Northern Ireland political institutions reinstated urgently, and agreed to work closely to this end. They condemned this morning’s bombing in Fermanagh and urged anyone with relevant information to contact the PSNI.

They agreed that their teams would maintain close contact over the coming weeks, while recognising that negotiations take place between the UK and the EU27 Task Force. They also agreed to meet in Dublin in early September.

Work is underway on a £2 million scheme to refurbish the flood defence embankment in Stansgate, Essex, offering a higher level of protection to people living nearby.

The work is taking place along a stretch of coastline west of the Stansgate Abbey Road, north of Steeple, and is expected to last until December.

The scheme, which has a budget of over £2 million, will ensure the embankment continues to reduce the risk of flooding to more than 200 properties, including those in the nearby village of St Lawrence, as well as large areas of agricultural land and important habitat.

The old protection has deteriorated due to its age and needs replacing. If left, the embankment would wash away over time and eventually this would lead to flooding of the land behind.

Environment Agency contractors JBA Bentley are removing the old concrete scour protection from the embankment and replacing it with a specialist mix of stone and asphalt (OSA).

Environment Agency project lead Robert Brown said:

This work will improve the condition of the defence and will reduce the need for maintenance works for many years to come.

The OSA and equipment is being brought to site by lorry. We and JBA Bentley are working hard to ensure that any disruption is kept to a minimum.

For example, the old concrete blocks will be placed at the bottom of the seawall to act as a wave break and habitat, which will remove the need to take them away by lorry.

The work is being complemented by a similar scheme undertaken by the landowner to repair adjoining defences.

Nationally the Environment Agency is investing £2.6 billion between 2015 and 2021, delivering more than 1,500 projects, to better protect 300,000 homes from flooding and coastal erosion.

In May, the Environment Agency also launched its draft Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Strategy which takes a long-term approach to how we can work together to build better resilience into our homes, businesses and infrastructure, ensuring that we are better prepared for the increased level of risk that the future will bring.