Boris Johnson warns EU that Brexit rebels CAN’T stop No Deal and insists Brussels WILL drop hated backstop
REBEL MPs can’t stop a No Deal Brexit so Brussels needs to drop the Irish backstop for agreement to be reached, Boris Johnson will tell Angela Merkel.
The Prime Minister said a major stumbling block to progress on a deal is that the EU still think that Brexit can be stopped by Remainer MPs in Parliament.
The Prime Minister is due to meet the German Chancellor for dinner in Berlin at which he will spell out his position on a No Deal Brexit.
Boris explained that when it comes to blocking No Deal, Parliament “can’t get it through” as it is and insisted that “I will be making some progress in the course of the next few weeks”.
“As long as they still think there’s a possibility that Brexit will blocked, they are unlikely to be minded to make the concessions that we need. It is going to take a bit of patience.”
He hit back at Brussels after EU bosses today blasted his plans to scrap the hated Northern Irish backstop and replace it with something else.
Speaking in a pooled clip he said: “We can’t have this backstop. I am going to make the point that the backstop is going to come out.”
And he insisted that he would NOT be putting any checks in place at the Northern Irish border if we had to leave with No Deal – hitting back at EU boss Donald Tusk who insisted he was deceiving the public.
BACKSTOP DEMAND
He said he would be looking at all the different ways that Britain can maintain a smooth border with Northern Ireland – including checks away from the border, electronic pre-clearing, and trusted trader schemes.
Brussels now appears to be putting Britain on track for a No Deal Brexit after slamming it as “unrealistic” and his claims as “misleading”.
Mr Tusk said his stance would lead to a hard border in Northern Ireland – something that Boris has always denied he wants to see.
The European Commission boss tweeted: “The backstop is an insurance to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland unless and until an alternative is found.
“Those against the backstop and not proposing realistic alternatives in fact support reestablishing a border. Even if they do not admit it.”
And Guy Verhofstadt added: “I don’t see any majority in the @Europarl_EN to remove the backstop from the Withdrawal Agreement.
“It is a vital insurance policy, negotiated in good faith & supported by the people of the Island of Ireland. The time for bluster & political blame games is fast running out.”
A Commission spokesperson said: “The letter doesn’t provide a legal, operational solution to prevent the return of a hard border on the island of Ireland.
‘PRACTICAL SOLUTION’
“It does not set out what any alternative arrangements could be.
“In fact, it recognises that there is no guarantee that such arrangements will be in place by the end of the transition period.
“We stand ready to work constructively within our mandate.”
But Angela Merkel was more diplomatic – hinting that “practical solutions can be found” if both sides work together.
However, that won’t involve re-opening the Brexit deal, she insisted.
The moment we have a practical arrangement with which we can uphold the Good Friday Agreement and still define the limits of the domestic market, we won’t need the backstop anymore
Angela Merkel
“The moment we have a practical arrangement with which we can uphold the Good Friday Agreement and still define the limits of the domestic market, we won’t need the backstop anymore,” Mrs Merkel said.
“That means, of course we will think about practical solutions. If you want to find these solutions in the future, you can also find them in the short term. The EU is ready for that. But for that we don’t need to reopen the exit agreement. That is a question of the future relationship.”
Boris said he wanted the backstop to be replaced with a commitment to alternative arrangements at the border – and was willing to discuss safety net options for if that wasn’t ready in time.
The PM fired the first shot ahead of talks with Germany’s Angela Merkel tomorrow in Berlin, and Emmanuel Macron on Thursday for the first time.
And he will meet EU leaders at the G7 in France at the weekend.
A letter sent from the European Commission to the Council today said the backstop was “necessary” and that the EU “regrets” that there’s no “concrete proposals” from Boris.
They claimed his letter to Mr Tusk was “inaccurate” and “misleading” too.
GOOD FAITH TALKS
But a Downing Street spokesperson said this afternoon that the PM has been clear “we will never place infrastructure, checks or controls at the border”.
No10 said it was Brussels who was at fault and stubbornly not negotiating in good faith.
They added: “But it is clear that unless the Withdrawal Agreement is reopened and the backstop abolished there is no prospect of a deal. It has already been rejected three times by MPs and is simply unviable as a solution, as the PM’s letter makes clear.
“We are ready to negotiate, in good faith, an alternative to the backstop, with provisions to ensure that the Irish border issues are dealt with where they should always have been: in the negotiations on the future agreement between the UK and the EU.”
Commons leader Jacob Rees Mogg said this evening that he thought Boris’ offer was very “sensible and positive”.
He said as he came out of No10: “I’ve always thought these problems can be solved with good will.
“Lots of work has been done looking at borders and so on – the ERG produced papers on this in the past
“I think it’s very good news and very positive.”
No Deal scare-mongering documents are 'out of date' and 'worst case scenario', Tory chairman
SCARE-MONGERING No Deal documents which warned of food shortages and chaos are out of date and only the “worst case scenario”, the Tory Party Chairman insisted today.
James Cleverly said the internal documents were only made to force the Government to “avoid and mitigate” those situations.
It wasn’t a prediction of what’s goinmg to happen if we leave the EU without an agreement in place.
He told the BBC: “Its not a prediction, not a future estimate of reality.
“It’s scenarios which are to be mitigated and avoided.
“We’ve ramped up No Deal planning to make sure we avoid the worst case scenarios.
“It’s out of date.”
Boris spoke for an hour on the phone with Irish President Leo Varadkar last night about how to tackle the tricky issue of the Irish border – but both sides continued to disagree.
But Donald Tusk appeared to be relaxing and enjoying himself yesterday, posting a snap of himself in a garden hammock with his dog and a pushchair, reading a book.
The caption read: “Nanny competition settled.”
Mr Tusk has long been a huge critic of Brexit, and said there was a “special place in hell” for those who wanted us to leave the EU without a plan.
EU leaders have repeatedly said the Brexit deal can’t be re-opened, and have refused to engage in discussions on changing the hated backstop.
One French official branded Boris’ letter a “joke”.
They told Politico: “Replacing the backstop with something that isn’t defined gets rid of the guarantee the backstop was meant to provide. No checks, it’s a joke, it means that the UK would accept that products that don’t respect its rules enter its market without control? How long will that hold?”
One EU diplomat said it looked like Boris was the one who wanted a No Deal, saying: “It’s clear from the letter that renegotiation is the last thing the British government wants.”
Another source told The Times: “In three years the UK has not even offered so much as a shimmer of a solution on how to avoid a border on the island of Ireland.
“This letter is no different. Three years on but no further.”
And another senior EU source told The Guardian that the letter “is a total moving of the goal posts on an issue of great importance and sensitivity that affects the lives of people on the island of Ireland”.
If Brussels doesn’t make concessions, Boris has insisted Britain will leave without an agreement on October 31.
Tory Party Chairman James Cleverly said today the EU needed to show flexibility on the backstop, the main “sticking point”.
“The decision as to whether we leave with or without a deal is largely now in the hands of European Union negotiators,” he told Sky.
“We will be leaving on the 31st of October come what may, and I think the recognition of that will help the EU negotiators understand what they need to do.”
And he told the BBC: “The negotiations only work if people are willing to move and be adaptable.
“The UK has been willing to move and be adaptable… what the Prime Minister is asking the EU to do, is look at reality.”
Boris said yesterday he was “confident” the EU would move.
Boris will pull out UK officials from EU meetings in 2 weeks
UK officials will stop attending most EU meetings in less than two weeks so they can focus on Brexit, the Government has confirmed.
British staff around the world will be “unshackled” so they can spend their time more productively.
They will only go to EU meetings where the UK has a significant interest – like security briefings.
Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay said today: “From now on we will only go to the meetings that really matter, reducing attendance by over half and saving hundreds of hours.
“This will free up time for Ministers and their officials to get on with preparing for our departure on October 31 and seizing the opportunities that lie ahead.”
MOST READ IN POLITICS
Boris tweeted today: “We are ready to work with our friends and partners to deal a deal.
“But if you want a good deal for the UK, you must simultaneously get ready to come out without one.”
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I don't want that EU flag, I don't want the EU anthem,I don't want this EU Military Union, I don't want this EU political class – I want the whole thing consigned to the dustbin of history
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