‘Stop speaking and act’, UK’s Johnson told
BRITISH Prime Minister Boris Joh nson fa i led to conv i nce EU leaders on Monday that he has a serious plan for a Brex it deal and then ducked out of a pla n ned news con ferenc e under a chorus of abuse from protesters.
Before sett ing of f for ta l ks in Luxembourg, Johnson had compared himself to comic book g ia nt Hul k, but when a nt i-Brex it protester s later gathered he left Prime Minister Xavier Bettel to f ield quest ions solo.
A visibly angr y Bettel pointed in bitter amusement at the empty podium in front of the British f lag beside him as he warned that Britain had failed to come up with any credible way to rev ive t he Brex it wit hdrawal deal.
It was time to “stop speaki ng a nd ac t ”, he told t he absent Johnson.
“For me I have just one withdrawal agreement on the table – and it’s t he one from last year. There are no changes, t here are no concrete proposals for the moment on the t able a nd I won’t g ive a n ag reement to idea s,” Bet tel said.
For his pa r t, once he was safely clear of the small crowd of British residents of Luxembourg who had gathered outside Bet tel’s of f ic e for t he n o i s y p r o t e s t , J o h n s o n made brief remarks to British broadcasters.
“There was clearly going to be a lot of noise ... and I t hink our points might have been drowned out,” he protested, insisting he would never seek to postpone Brex it, deal or no deal.
“What on earth is the point? Stay ing beyond October 31 is crackers,” he said, according to the BBC.
Joh nson i nsi sted he had made progress in agreeing to f urt her ta lks wit h EU leader Je a n- C l aude Ju ncker a nd negot iator Michel Ba r n ier. “Our friends and partners in the EU are keen to work with us to get a deal,” he said.
But Juncker, who had held a
w o r k i n g l u n c h w i t h dow nbeat.
The president of the European Commission sa id t hat once aga i n t he UK had fa i led to come up w it h a v iable a lter nat ive to t he s o - c a l l e d I r i s h “b a c k s t o p ” b o r d e r a rra ngement.
“President Ju ncker reca l led t hat it is t he UK’s responsibi l it y to come for wa rd w it h lega l ly operat iona l solut ions t hat a re compat ible wit h t he Wit hdrawa l Agreement,” a commission statement sa id.
Johnson has vowed to ta ke Brita in out of t he bloc by t he scheduled date of October 31, t hough parlia ment has ordered him not to do so wit hout st r i k ing a dea l wit h Br ussels f i rst.
Busi nesses a nd opponents of Brex it say leav ing wit hout a dea l wil l cause economic chaos as Brita in ends its open t rade t ies to J o h n s o n , w a s t he EU fol low ing 46 yea rs.
Joh nson say s Br it a i n w i l l not ag ree to a divorce dea l t hat i ncludes t he back stop, a prov ision t hat would temporari ly keep t he UK in the EU customs union to keep the Irish border open.
The Europea n Pa rl ia ment wi l l t his week vote on a re s olut ion reje c t i ng Joh nson’s demand that the backstop clause be stripped f rom t he dea l.
Johnson insists it has to be removed if he is to bring t he ag reement back to t he House of Commons for approva l.
But t he accord wi l l a lso have to win t he support of t he ot her 27 EU leaders a nd t he European Parliament if Britain is not to crash out wit h no dea l on October 31.
Barnier wil l address t he Europea n Parliament session in Strasbourg on Wednesday as MEPs vote to rea f f irm a nd reinforce t he EU Brex it sta nce – a nd insist t hat t he backstop must stay.