Battle to protect new Brexit deal

Brexiteer and DUP in twin move but attack played down

THE Government has moved to protect the proposed compromise Brexit deal after a twin attack by a hard-line Brexiteer and the deputy leader of the DUP.

The British and Irish governments’ plan to break the impasse suffered an apparent setback after the DUP’s Nigel Dodds said the double customs solution “cannot work”, and Brexiteer Owen Paterson, a former Northern Ireland secretary, suggested it would “ride roughshod” over the Good Friday Agreement.

Last night, Government sources in Dublin said the comments by Mr Dodds, the DUP leader in Westminster, should “not be overblown”, adding: “He’s only looking for political cover over the coming days and I don’t think it will impact on talks.”

The European Union was this weekend continuing Brexit negotiations with the UK government, aimed at preventing the UK from crashing out of the EU.

A spokesman for Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said the Government would not be giving “running commentary” on the current phase of Brexit negotiations.

The development centred on an article published in the Daily Telegraph newspaper on Friday by arch Brexiteer Mr Paterson, a prominent member of the hard-line ERG, which supports a no-deal Brexit.

There is some evidence that Mr Paterson’s article, and subsequent comments by Mr Dodds, may have been co-ordinated to raise doubts over the compromise plan arrived at by the UK prime minister, and Taoiseach in Liverpool last week.

In his newspaper article, Mr Paterson warned of “a danger that lurking beneath the warm words” is a plan “to keep Northern Ireland permanently in the [EU] Customs Union.”

Mr Paterson said there was a “risk” that the view of secretary-general of the European Commission, Martin Selmayr, would prevail, that Northern Ireland should be the price the UK pays for Brexit.

The two governments’ proposed new deal, in effect, would resemble the originally proposed Northern Ireland-only backstop, but would allow the UK government to keep Northern Ireland legally in the UK customs territory.

However, Mr Paterson said it would be “absurd to penalise” Northern Ireland with “EU costs and overbearing regulations” for a small proportion of trade, leaving it “unable to take advantage” of new UK trade deals. He also claimed the proposed new deal would be a “flagrant breach” of the Good Friday Agreement.

He subsequently posted the article to his Twitter account, stating the new plan would “ride roughshod over one of the core tenets of the Belfast Agreement: the principle of consent.” This would stir up problems in Northern Ireland long after Brexit was resolved, he said.

Asked about the article in Italy yesterday, Mr Dodds said Mr Paterson was “absolutely right”.

In a news report posted online by the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, Mr Dodds was quoted as saying Northern Ireland “must stay in a full UK customs union, full stop”.

The Italian newspaper quoted Mr Dodds: “There is a lot of stuff coming from Brussels, pushed by the Europeans in the last hours, but one thing is sure: Northern Ireland must remain fully part of the UK customs union. And Boris Johnson knows it very well...”

The newspaper quoted Mr Dodds rejecting as unrealistic the solution now being discussed, stating: “No, it cannot work.” However, Mr Dodds was further quoted: “We’ll wait and see.”

Mr Paterson also posted the La Repubblica article to his Twitter account last night, describing it as a “significant statement”.

ABOUT 45 minutes into the meeting in Thornton Manor Hotel on the Wirral Peninsula just outside Liverpool, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson emerged from the room where he was engaged in Brexit talks with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.

Advisers for both sides assumed the prime minister’s exit from the wooden panelled meeting room meant the last-ditch effort to prevent a disorderly Brexit had come to an end.

But instead, Mr Johnson simply asked if the two leaders could be brought some coffee and then he disappeared into the room for another 45 minutes.

A source said: “At this point it was clear that something more than what was expected was taking place.”

The source said most faceto-face meetings between Taoiseach and heads of state only last between five and 20 minutes, so it was significant that Mr Varadkar and Mr Johnson were locked into talks on their own for an hour-and-a-half.

In the adjoining anteroom, the Taoiseach and prime minister’s advisers passed the time pleasantly while their bosses thrashed out what could be an historic compromise on Brexit. Insiders say it was a “very friendly” occasion and the vitriol accredited to anonymous Downing Street sources in the British media was nowhere to be seen.

The Irish team noted the prime minister’s top political aide Dominic Cummings even donned a suit for the occasion.

The Machiavellian spin doctor, who is regularly accused of being behind some of Mr Johnson’s more divisive Brexit comments, usually insists on wearing scruffy shirts and hoodies. But he decided this particular meeting with the Taoiseach justified a suit and tie.

Sources say Mr Varadkar and Mr Johnson have developed a relationship since the prime minister came to power, but they are reluctant to call it a “close relationship”.

However, they have bonded over a shared interest in history and the Greek classics.

The Taoiseach famously referenced the story of Athena coming to the rescue of Hercules during Mr Johnson’s first visit to Dublin as prime minister.

There is also the not inconsequential fact that Mr Johnson’s daughter is currently a student in Trinity College, which of course is where Mr Varadkar attended university.

At a speaking engagement in Dublin earlier this year, Mr Johnson told an audience his daughter was “having a wonderful time” in Trinity college. Mr Varadkar also has many a happy memory he can recall during his meeting with the prime minister.

After the meeting, the two leaders issued a statement in which they said “they could see a pathway to possible deal”.

The language was very different from comments from EU leaders in the days leading up to the Brexit summit on Merseyside.

However, two days before the meeting, on the night of the Budget, Tanaiste Simon Coveney had flown late into Brussels to brief EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier ahead of the meeting on Merseyside. Mr Coveney was given Brussels’ blessing, which was relayed to the Taoiseach.

The impression might have been that Mr Varadkar was negotiating directly with the UK, but Government sources insist the EU was kept in the loop at every turn.

Exact details of what was said at the meeting are being kept as a closely guarded secret due to the sensitivity of the negotiations.

However, a picture is emerging which suggests Mr Johnson may be willing to make some concessions on Northern Ireland and the EU customs union.

The proposal is said to be not unlike the customs partnership proposal put forward by former UK prime minister Theresa May which was ultimately torpedoed by Mr Johnson and his Brexit-backing Conservative Party colleagues.

Under the new plan, Northern Ireland would legally be part of the UK customs area and would be able to avail of trade deals struck by Britain with other countries.

But it would also be in the EU custom territory and goods from other countries would pass through customs controls in the Irish Sea where tariffs could be applied to non-EU goods.

If UK tariffs are lower than those imposed by the EU, then importers would be able to apply for rebate on goods sold in Northern Ireland.

It is a complicated system and potentially a bureaucratic nightmare, but soundings from Brussels indicate it could be the answer to the conundrum that has dogged the EU and the UK for the past three years.

The other new aspect of the talks relates to giving Northern Ireland, either the people or their politicians, a veto on the customs proposal.

Different “consent” mechanisms are being examined to allow Northern Ireland a say on the final deal either before it is introduced or after it has been in place for some time. This could involve Stormont having the power to vote down the new customs arrangement or even a Northern Ireland-only referendum on the deal.

Before the meeting in Liverpool, senior Government figures were last weekend saying Mr Johnson would have to compromise on the Northern Ireland customs union if he wanted to strike a deal with the EU.

One source close to the talks said the final deal will be some sort of “Northern Ireland-only backstop” but it will be called something else to allow Johnson to argue in Westminster that he convinced Brussels to “bin the backstop”.

Another EU source this weekend said a Northern Ireland-only backstop will potentially be rebranded to allow Mr Johnson to “save face”. The source added: “But everyone will know what it is.”

However, the air of positivity about reaching a deal after the Liverpool talks proved to be short-lived when DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds bluntly told Italian newspaper Repubblica that the proposed deal “cannot work”.

“There is a lot of stuff coming from Brussels, pushed by the Europeans in the last hours, but one thing is sure: Northern Ireland must remain fully part of the UK customs union. And Boris Johnson knows it very well,” he said.

A Government spokesman last night said they would not be providing a “running commentary” on Brexit but Mr Dodds’ intervention indicates any deal Mr Johnson strikes will once again struggle to make it through a vote in the House of Commons.