Brexit ‘landing zone’ in sight

Minister raises hopes of deal as Boris heads for key talks with Juncker

THE Brexit Secretary last night raised hopes of a breakthrough as the Prime Minister heads to Luxembourg for talks with EU chief Jean-Claude Juncker.

Steve Barclay said progress was being made on securing a deal, insisting a ‘landing zone’ was in sight.

Boris Johnson will meet Mr Juncker this afternoon – their first encounter since he entered Downing Street.

Over a dinner of snails, salmon and cheese, he is expected to tell the former Luxembourg prime minister that he will reject the offer of any further extension, even if it is just for a few days. ‘He could not be clearer that he will not countenance any more delays, we will be leaving on October 31 – no ifs, no buts,’ said a source at No 10.

‘Any further extension would be a huge mistake. It is not just a question of the extra dither and delay – it is also the additional long months of rancour and division, and all at huge expense.

‘We must finally deliver on the 2016 referendum. This is why the PM will stress to Mr Juncker that, while he wants to secure a deal, if no deal can be agreed by October 18 his policy is to leave without a deal on October 31 – and reject any delay offered by the EU.’

Mr Barclay warned an agreement would need ‘creativity and flexibility on both sides’ and ‘ there’s a huge amount of work still to do’.

British officials have been drawing up alternatives to the Irish backstop, which is designed to prevent the return of a hard border. In an interview with Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday, Mr Barclay said: ‘There has been detailed technical talks led by David Frost, the Prime Minister’s Europe adviser. They have been meeting with Michel Barnier’s team.

‘The Prime Minister will be seeing President Juncker, I’ll be meeting with Michel Barnier, so there’s extensive talks been happening both at a technical level but also at a political level.

‘So there has been a huge amount of work going on behind the scenes. We can see a landing zone in terms of a future deal but there is significant work still to do.’

In a separate interview with BBC Radio 5 Live, Mr Barclay warned the transition period may have to be extended beyond December 2020 – when it is due to end – if problems over the Northern Ireland border have still not been resolved. He said the withdrawal agreement championed by Theresa May contained a provision for it to be extended for one or two years.

Home Secretary Priti Patel, who voted against Mrs May’s plan three times, yesterday said a deal was essential. She told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show: ‘ We have to leave and we have to leave with a deal on October 31, and there’s no point right now trying to prejudge the discussions taking place.’

But she said the Government was not going to propose a similar deal to Mrs May’s.

Ahead of his meeting with Mr Juncker, Mr Johnson yesterday struck a confident tone, saying ‘we will get there’ and that a ‘huge amount of progress is being made’.

Speaking to the Mail on Sunday, Mr Johnson said: ‘I will be talking to Jean-Claude about how we’re going to do it. I’m very confident.

‘When I got this job everybody was saying there can be absolutely no change to the withdrawal agreement, the backstop was immutable, the arrangements by which the UK was kept locked in to the EU forever, they said no one could change that.

‘They have already moved off that and, as you know, there’s a very, very good conversation going on about how to address the issues of the Northern Irish border. A huge amount of progress is being made.’

However, Mr Juncker yesterday said he was still waiting to receive detailed proposals from London as to how the withdrawal agreement should be changed.

He told German radio station Deutschlandfunk: ‘We do not know what the British want in detail, precisely and accurately, and we are still waiting for alternative proposals. Time is running out.’

Writing in today’s Daily Telegraph, Mr Johnson accuses the opposition parties of being part of a ‘Remainer attempt to crush Brexit’ while claiming only to want to thwart No Deal.

He points the finger at Jeremy Corbyn, saying the Labour leader wants to keep Britain tied to the EU ‘ at a cost of £ 250million a week’ – significantly less than the £350million calculation the Leave side used during the referendum campaign of 2016.

The Prime Minister adds: ‘That’s enough to build a new hospital.’

‘No point arguing about the past’