UK about to reveal Brexit hand
AFTER months of Brexit stalemate, Britain is finally about to play its hand, setting out Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s proposals for a last-minute divorce deal with the European Union.
It’s a crucial moment for the embattled leader, who is faced with a sceptical EU, a divided UK and a supportive but worried Conservative Party.
The party that chose Johnson as its leader in July is mostly – but not unanimously – rallying behind a politician whose drive and energy have been stained by allegations of improper behaviour and divisive political tactics.
Johnson confirmed yesterday that the government will send formal Brexit proposals to Brussels within days, saying “this is the moment when the rubber hits the road”.
Britain is due to leave the 28-nation bloc in just 30 days, and EU leaders are growing impatient with the UK’s failure to set out detailed plans for maintaining an open border between the UK’s Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland point to a deal.
Johnson said details would be disclosed “very soon”. The UK plans to send them to Brussels within days after the governing Conservative Party conference ends today in Manchester.
Johnson said Britain will leave the EU on the scheduled October 31 date with or without a deal. A Brexit agreement between the EU and his predecessor, Theresa May, was rejected three times by the UK parliament, largely because of opposition to the “backstop,” an insurance policy designed to ensure there is no return to customs posts or other infrastructure on the Irish border.
An open border underpins both the local economy and Northern Ireland’s peace process.
British Brexit supporters oppose the backstop because it would keep the UK tightly bound to EU trade rules in order to avoid customs checks – limiting the country’s ability to strike new
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sticking trade deals around the world.
He didn’t say what Britain’s proposed alternative is. So far, the UK has floated the idea of a common area for livestock and agricultural products, plus largely untested “technological solutions”. The EU said that is inadequate. Ireland has already rejected an idea raised in preliminary UK proposals for customs posts five to 8-16km away from the border.
Johnson said that proposal wasn’t going to be included. “That’s not what we’re proposing at all,” he said – but added that it was a “reality” that some checks would be needed to create a “single customs territory” for the UK.
Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said that under May, the UK government “promised no hard border or associated controls or checks and we expect the British government to honour that promise made in the withdrawal agreement. People here don’t want a customs border between north and south and no British government should seek to impose customs posts against the will of the people on the island of Ireland,” he said in the Irish parliament.
Johnson insisted that he wants to strike a deal with the EU to replace May’s rejected Brexit agreement. He also says the UK can handle any bumps that come from tumbling out of the bloc without a deal, which would mean the instant imposition of customs checks and other barriers between Britain and the EU, its biggest trading partner.
But the UK government and businesses said the disruptions would be substantial.
Trade Minister George Freeman told MPs at the Conservative conference that “if we leave without a deal, it’s going to be very bumpy.”
He said the flow of trade across the Channel between the English port of Dover and the French port of Calais – could be cut in half as customs and vehicle checks were introduced.