Boris plays hardball on Brexit

BORIS Johnson has urged Brussels to drop its opposition to a new Brock deal and return to the table for negotiations. In his first statement to M Ps as Prime Minister, MrJohnson (right) said he would work "flat our to secure an agreement on the EU withdrawal. At the same time, he said the government was "turbo-charging" preparations for a no-deal break on October 31 if the EU refused to engage in dialogue. In Brussels, the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barrier said Mr Johnson's demands were "unacceptable" and accused him of using "combative" Ianguage to put pressure on the remaining EU27. Mr Johnson has underlined his determination to take Brit-ain out of the EU by the end of October, warning that failure to do so would lead to a "cata-strophic loss of confidence" in the political system. Despite the fears of many MPs that he is setting the country on course for a no-deal break, Mr Johnson insist-ed he would still prefer to leave with a new agreement in place. However, he said the for-mer Withdrawal Agreement was "unacceptable" and that the Northern Ireland backstop had to go. "No country that values its independence, and, indeed, its self respect, could agree to a treaty which signed away our economic independence and self-government as this back-stop does," he said. European Commission President Jean-Claude Junc-ker warned Johnson in a phone call later in the day that the deal the EU struck with his predecessor last year was "the best and only" one, an EU spokeswoman said. Mr Johnson stuck to his guns, however, telling Mr Juncker that the backstop had to go, a Downing Street spokesman said.