Blame EU for any border checks says PM as he presents Irish plan
BORIS Johnson last night raised the stakes in the Brexit negotiations by warning that the EU will be to blame if customs checks are imposed at the Irish border.
With his full proposal for an EU divorce deal expected to be unveiled within days, the Prime Minister said the UK had “moved a long, long way” to come to an agreement and urged the bloc to compromise.
And he insisted: “We have a solution.”
Brussels, he said, will face “a
very unhappy and unfortunate situation” if the UK was forced to stay in the EU “against the will of the people”.
Mr Johnson made his remarks in interviews at the Tory conference in Manchester as tensions grew over the border issue ahead of the October 31 Brexit deadline.
And in an angry swipe, a senior figure in the Democratic Unionist Party condemned the leak of elements of the British departure plans by EU sources as an “act of sabotage”.
The Government is expected to formally publish Mr Johnson’s blueprint for a divorce deal once conference ends today.
In a BBC interview, he said: “There will have to be a system for customs checks away from the border.
“Now, we think those checks can be absolutely minimal and non-intrusive and won’t involve new infrastructure.
“But that is absolutely where the argument is going to be. And that’s where the negotiation will be tough.”
He warned that the EU could impose border checks to protect its single market.
“If the EU is going to insist on customs checks as we come out, then we will have to accept that reality,” he said
Asked whose fault it would be if border checks were imposed, he said: “Well, I don’t want to get into a blame game.
“But I think that the UK has really moved a long, long way.
“And what I think we can do, is
we can sort out the issue of the UK leaving the EU… protect the Good Friday process, we can protect the peace process.
“We can ensure that there aren’t checks at the border, no physical interruption of trade or movement of people – absolutely not.”
Mr Johnson admitted he was facing some “hard yards” in the final push to try to reach a deal.
He also warned Brussels that the UK could become an awkward member of the bloc if Brexit was delayed beyond October 31. “It goes without saying that the UK would be held against the will of its government, and indeed against the will of the people of the UK who voted to leave.
“And I think that would be a very unhappy and unfortunate situation.”
In an earlier broadcast interview yesterday, the Prime Minister said: “This is the moment when the rubber hits the road. We do have a solution.”
Tempers flared over the leak of what was claimed to be part of the British offer of a deal, with a furious DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson saying: “I think what happened yesterday evening, whoever was behind it certainly wasn’t working towards a deal.
“I think this was an act of sabotage.”
Meanwhile, Irish premier Leo Varadkar warned: “People here don’t want a customs border between north and south and no British government should seek to impose customs posts against the will of the people on the island of Ireland.”