Boris steps up the tempo to find a deal
BORIS Johnson last night ordered his Brussels negotiators to “step up the tempo” in a last big push to secure a Brexit deal.
Downing Street confirmed the UK team will meet their Brussels counterparts twice a week throughout next month in an intensive effort to break the deadlock over the Withdrawal Agreement.
David Frost, the chief official in the Prime Minister’s negotiating team, met members of the EU’s Brexit taskforce earlier this week to agree to the new phase of discussions.
Their renewed contact is likely to raise expectations that Mr
Johnson’s tough new approach to Brussels could lead to a breakthrough ahead of his October 31 departure deadline.
Both sides in the negotiations are committed to detailed talks about how to solve the row over the Northern Ireland backstop border measure, according to Whitehall officials.
Mr Johnson said: “I have said right from my first day in office that we are ready to work in an energetic and determined way to get a deal done. “While I have been encouraged with my discussions with EU leaders over recent weeks that there is a willingness to talk about alternatives to the anti
democratic backstop, it is now time for both sides to step up the tempo.
“The increase in meetings and discussions is necessary if we are to have a chance of agreeing a deal for when we leave on October 31.”
Mr Frost will be joined by different teams of officials on each day, depending on the issues being discussed.
Experts on customs, regulation and trade policy are expected to be drafted in on a meeting-bymeeting basis.
Officials admit that the two sides are still “some distance apart” on the key obstacles to a Brexit deal.