Johnson ‘steps up tempo’ of EU talks as deadline nears
Brexit negotiator told to meet twice a week with EU officials in effort to secure last-minute agreement
BORIS JOHNSON has ordered his chief Brexit negotiator to “step up the tempo” in talks over a new deal with Brussels as a senior EU minister said an agreement was still possible before Oct 31.
David Frost will meet his counterparts twice a week in Brussels, starting next week, as the Prime Minister said the pace needed to be ramped up to ensure a Hallowe’en exit “no ifs, no buts”.
Mr Johnson said he had been “encouraged” by his talks with individual EU leaders since last month and “that there is a willingness to talk about alternatives to the anti-democratic backstop”.
A government spokesman said that although the UK and the EU “remain some distance apart on key issues … both sides are willing to work hard to find a way through”. The UK insists that the Northern Irish backstop, which would keep the UK in a customs union with the EU until a new trade deal came into force, must be scrapped.
Mr Johnson said: “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 Oct 31. No ifs, no buts.”
Stephan Blok, the Dutch foreign minister, said there had been “serious talks” between the EU and Britain which could yet avoid a no-deal Brexit, though he added: “We’re not there yet.”
Speaking at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Helsinki, Mr Blok said: “We hope it will still be possible to avoid a no-deal Brexit and we are looking forward to any proposals from the British Government that fit into the Withdrawal Agreement.”
He highlighted a meeting in Brussels on Wednesday between Frost and his EU counterparts as a sign of movement in the talks. “I know that there have been serious talks in Brussels but we are not there yet,” he said, referring to Mr Frost’s meetings.
Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime minister, is seen as open to a Brexit deal that dropped the backstop provided that an alternative deal protected the EU’S single market and respected the Good Friday Agreement.
The Netherlands would be one of the EU countries hit hardest by a no-deal Brexit because of the volume of trade with the UK and two-way investment.
Frost sought to downplay the implications of the suspension of Parliament in his meetings with his EU counterparts, saying that the move was designed to increase pressure on MPS to approve a new deal.
Helen Mcentee, Ireland’s Europe minister, said yesterday that the EU was not prepared to abandon the backstop despite reports that they had changed position. She said: “We have continuously repeated that the EU is not going to change its position.”
♦a government scientific adviser has said that there is no health reason to ban chlorinated chicken imported from the US after Brexit. Sir Ian Boyd, chief scientific adviser at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, said there was no scientific evidence that the meat is harmful.