A BACKSTOP DEAL? NON!

THE French government has denied reports that President Emmanuel Macron had offered a ‘more lenient’ deal on the backstop.

‘These [articles] are without any foundation ... The French position is that of the European Union: the withdrawal agreement is not renegotiable,’ a spokesman for President Macron said in a statement. The London Times newspaper reported that Mr Macron was ready to urge the EU to be more lenient in its insistence that Northern Ireland must remain a free trade area for the EU.

Mr Macron has been at the forefront of urging other EU leaders to back Ireland in insisting that goods and services must be allowed to flow freely between the Republic and the North.