European leaders queue
Nations stung into action by Johnson’s ‘do or die’ threat
PANICKING EU countries have been secretly trying to woo Boris Johnson in a bid to thrash out a new Brexit plan that would avoid a no-deal outcome, it emerged yesterday.
Senior Irish politicians and diplomats have held peace talks with two of Mr Johnson’s Cabinet allies.
German and French figures, as well as the Dutch and Belgian governments, have also established contacts with Mr Johnson’s team and signalled an intention to do a deal.
They have been stung into action by the Tory leadership favourite’s insistence he is willing to take Britain out of the EU on October 31 “do or die”.
Simon Coveney, Ireland’s deputy prime minister and minister for foreign affairs, indicated that Dublin is prepared to compromise.
He said that the Withdrawal Agreement concluded with Theresa May, which includes the controversial Northern Ireland backstop, is “not up for negotiation”.
But he made clear that his country wants to avoid a no-deal Brexit.
“If the approach of the new British prime minister is that they’re going to tear up the Withdrawal Agreement, then I think we’re in trouble. We’re all in trouble, quite frankly, because it’s a little bit like saying, ‘Either give me what I want or I’m going to burn the house down for everybody’,” Mr Coveney told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show.
“The EU has made it very clear that we want to engage with a new British prime minister, we want to avoid a nodeal Brexit.” Mr Coveney maintained the backstop can be avoided by negotiation, but that it needs to be part of the Withdrawal Agreement.
He said: “The idea that we can consider moving away from something that took two-and-a-half years to negotiate, given all of that complexity and compromise on both sides to try and accommodate British red lines, don’t forget, not EU red lines, we’re simply not going to move away from the Withdrawal Agreement.
“If the House of Commons chooses to facilitate a no-deal Brexit and if a new prime minister chooses to take Britain in that direction then it will happen.
“But this is a British choice, not an Irish choice, not an EU choice, this is a British choice.We all want to avoid a nodeal Brexit. We want to try to resolve these issues, but we won’t do it on the basis of being told what will happen.” Mr Coveney reiterated that checks would have to be carried out in Ireland in the event of a no-deal Brexit, but he said those checks would not be at the border. He said: “We have to protect relationships and peace on the island of Ireland, and we are not going to create a security risk by putting a border in place on the border, but we also have to make sure that there are verification mechanisms to ensure the EU knows what is coming into its single market.”
A source in Mr Johnson’s transition team yesterday claimed the Irish are “rethinking their position”. Another suggested talks could pave the way for a bilateral deal with Dublin that would render the backstop irrelevant.
Ambassadors from Belgium and Holland last week met Andrea Leadsom, another senior Johnson ally, and signalled a desire to come to a new deal.
Mr Johnson is also reportedly being urged to invite the French president and the German chancellor for talks at Chequers, the PM’s country retreat.