Last-ditch bid to solve Brexit snag

PRIME Minister Boris Johnson met his Irish counterpart in northern England yesterday in a last-ditch attempt to revive a British proposal for a Brexit deal that the EU said falls short of what is needed for an orderly departure.

The EU member Ireland must approve any plan for its border with the British province of Northern Ireland, the bloc’s only land frontier with the UK.

But with just three weeks before the UK is due to leave the world’s biggest trading bloc, no solution has been found to avoid reimposing a hard border, making it unclear on what terms it will quit or even whether it will at all.

As both sides position for another delay followed by a British election, or an acrimonious divorce on October 31, Johnson met Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar at Thornton Manor in Cheshire.

Johnson said on Wednesday he was cautiously optimistic, though Varadkar said on Tuesday it would be very difficult to strike a Brexit deal by next week – when the EU holds a crucial summit on Thursday and Friday.

EU diplomats, though, are sceptical about the chances of a deal. Most expect Johnson to be forced to accept a delay to Brexit – a step that could ultimately lead to either a disorderly exit or the reversal of the entire Brexit endeavour.

Brexit descended into a public row between London and Brussels this week after a Downing Street source said a Brexit deal was essentially impossible because German Chancellor Angela Merkel had made unacceptable demands.

The EU accused Johnson of playing a “stupid blame game” and bluntly told London it would have to make further significant concessions.

Former British foreign minister Jeremy Hunt said yesterday a “catastrophic failure in statecraft” could lead to a no-deal Brexit as Johnson would likely win an election and, then emboldened, be unwilling to compromise.

The EU’s two most powerful leaders, Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron, will meet at the Elysee Palace on Sunday ahead of next week’s summit. “We want to reduce the negative effects, even if there is a disorderly Brexit, in both countries,” Merkel said. |