Johnson inching closer to deal
Boris Johnson was facing a race against the clock overnight to secure a Brexit deal and get Tory eurosceptics and Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party onside to back him.
The British prime minister carried out a charm offensive in Downing Street as he held a series of talks with backbenchers and DUP leaders. Meanwhile, his negotiating team worked through the night as reports increased that a deal was near, with a solution said to be forthcoming on the Irish border.
There were reports that Johnson was preparing to agree to a border down the Irish Sea, creating custom checks on goods travelling between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.
The DUP was decidedly lukewarm on the mooted proposals. ‘‘It would be fair to indicate gaps remain and further work is required,’’ a spokesman said.
Martin Schirdewan, a German member of the European Parliament’s Brexit Steering Group, said an agreement was ‘‘now within our grasp’’ following a breakthrough in negotiations.
Downing Street officials were privately playing down suggestions of a breakthrough. They would like to finalise a deal before tomorrow’s crunch European Council summit, which comes just two weeks before the United Kingdom’s scheduled departure from the European Union on October 31.
Johnson’s official spokesman said: ‘‘Talks remain constructive but there is more work still to do.’’
Regardless of the outcome in Brussels, a showdown is anticipated during a emergency sitting of parliament on Saturday, the first in 37 years, if the government requests the unusual move and it is backed by MPs.
Johnson insists that the UK will leave at the end of the month with or without an agreement, although MPs are determined to push for another delay rather than risk a chaotic no-deal Brexit.
■ Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has confirmed that before the end of the year, she will formally request from Johnson the power for the Scottish parliament to hold another independence referendum.
Sturgeon told activists at her Scottish National Party’s conference in Aberdeen yesterday: ‘‘I’m utterly sick of Westminster. I’m sick of Brexit.’’
She said the Scottish government would complete its legislative preparations for a future independence vote by the new year. A referendum in 2014 was won by the ‘‘no’’ side.– PA, AP