Johnson to speak to EU leaders by Monday

LONDON — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was scheduled to speak to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker by the end of Monday to urge the leaders to support his Brexit deal, The Sunday Times reported.

Johnson will offer the three leaders the option to either help him deliver a new deal this week, or to agree on a friendly version of a no-deal Brexit by Oct 31, the newspaper said, citing a source familiar with the conversations.

“He’ll be talking to Merkel, Macron and Juncker by the end of Monday to see if there’s agreement on a ‘landing zone’ for Northern Ireland and customs,” the source was quoted as telling the newspaper.

“The alternative is to agree a friendly version of no-deal and finish it that way.”

Security chiefs have convinced Johnson that a no-deal Brexit will heighten the danger of extremist attacks in Northern Ireland and on the mainland, along with sectarian violence in cities such as Glasgow, according to the report.

As a result, Johnson desperately wants a Brexit deal, The Sunday Times reported.

“Any one of these risks we could cope with, but taken collectively they would be a massive challenge to the UK state and no one would choose to go down that route,” Johnson told a senior Conservative in a private conversation, according to the newspaper.

A European Union source, cited by The Sunday Times, said the chances of a deal at Thursday’s EU summit in Brussels were “50-50”.

On Friday, Johnson had declined to say whether Northern Ireland will stay in the EU customs union after Brexit.

With the Oct 31 deadline for a Brexit divorce deal looming, EU diplomats have said Brussels was willing to enter intense talks with British negotiators this weekend to try to strike a deal.

A Downing Street source told Reuters on Saturday that Britain remains a long way from agreeing to a final Brexit deal and the next few days will be critical if it is to reach departure terms with the EU.

Sky News reported on Sunday that Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said he is unlikely to support a deal agreed between Johnson and the EU.

“I think the problem areas are of regulation and deregulation which come from whatever trade arrangement there is with Europe and the wider world, but also perhaps very serious is the Irish border issue,” Corbyn said.