‘Temporary will mean temporary’ on backstop

BRUSSELS last night sought to reassure Britain that ‘temporary means temporary’ when it comes to the Irish border backstop.

Ireland’s foreign affairs minister Simon Coveney said talks have been built on reassurances published last year. Speaking in Dublin, he said: ‘We want to ensure that the backstop is a temporary arrangement.

‘We have been building on documents published in December and building on timelines. We’re in the space of trying to provide clarity that temporary means temporary.

‘My understanding is the negotiations have been difficult.’

Attorney-general Geoffrey Cox, the UK’s top law officer, held talks over dinner yesterday at the EU Commission with the bloc’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier. He stayed overnight, but no more discussions are scheduled for today.

EU sources said the UK was for the first time expected to present a formal text setting out what it is seeking at the meeting, with only a week left before another Commons vote on Theresa May’s deal.

Conservative Eurosceptics are looking for a ‘legally-binding’ exit mechanism to get out of the backstop if trade talks fail in future. Mr Cox said yesterday: ‘There are reasonable conversations going on.’