Boris on ‘collision course’ with EU over the backstop

BORIS Johnson was on ‘collision course’ with the EU last night after warning he will not sign a Brexit deal unless the Irish backstop is ‘abolished’.

In separate conversations with Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron, the new Prime Minister said Britain would never accept a repackaged version of Theresa May’s deal, which was rejected three times by MPs.

The tough message followed a similar warning to Jean-Claude Juncker on Thursday. The European Commission chief responded that the Withdrawal Agreement signed with Mrs May was ‘the best and only’ deal possible. In other developments, Mr Johnson: n Cooled speculation of an early election by ‘absolutely’ ruling out a snap poll, saying the public ‘ don’t want another electoral event, they don’t want a referendum, they don’t want a general election. They want us to deliver’.

■ Began preparations for a shake-up of stamp duty, which he said was ‘ choking’ the property market.

■ Formally launched a £1.1billion plan to recruit 20,000 police officers in three years.

■ Prepared to announce a new generation of intercity rail lines, beginning with funding for a new trans-Pennine route from Manchester to Leeds.

■ Was said by policing minister Kit Malthouse to be planning an emergency budget in September to prepare the UK for leaving the EU.

The backstop stand- off sparked a warning yesterday from the Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney that Mr Johnson was putting Britain on course for a No Deal exit.

Mr Coveney said Mr Johnson’s stance was ‘very unhelpful’. He added: ‘He seems to have made a deliberate decision to set Britain on a collision course with the EU and with Ireland in relation to Brexit negotiations.

‘The approach the British Prime Minister seems to now be taking is not going to be the basis of an agreement, and that’s worrying for everybody.’

Mr Johnson spoke on the phone to president Macron, one of the biggest critics of Brexit, on Thursday.

The PM’s official spokesman said he told Mr Macron: ‘He wants to do a deal. He will be energetic in trying to seek that deal, but the Withdrawal Agreement has been rejected three times by the House of Commons. It is not going to pass.

‘That means reopening the Withdrawal Agreement and securing the abolition of the backstop.’

Mr Johnson issued a similar warning in a phone call with the German Chancellor yesterday afternoon.

Irish PM Leo Varadkar said Mr Johnson appeared to be taking a ‘much harder line’ than Mrs May, but had ‘demonstrated a degree of flexibility in the past’ and wanted to discuss his ‘real red lines’.

Mr Varadkar said he thought a UK general election was possible before Christmas and joked that Mr Johnson might be prime minister for the shortest ever time.

Meanwhile, hardline Eurosceptics yesterday warned against a Brexit ‘betrayal’.

In an ominous move, a string of senior Brexiteers voiced concerns that Mr Johnson could renege on his pledge to abandon Mrs May’s deal.

Steve Baker, leader of the so- called Brexit ‘Spartans’, spoke of his fear of a ‘compromise withdrawal agreement’. He turned down the chance to return as Brexit minister as he would be ‘powerless’.

During the leadership campaign, Mr Johnson repeatedly declared Mrs May’s deal ‘dead’. But in his Commons debut on Thursday, he focused largely on the backstop, which critics claim would leave the UK locked in the customs union.

Mark Francois, another senior European Research Group member, said hardliners would not vote for any version of the deal. He added: ‘Any attempt to revive it in any form would be a complete betrayal of what he told the ERG.’

On the Remain side, Wales Office minister Lord Bourne resigned, saying: ‘I cannot accept a No Deal Brexit.’

‘He wants to do a deal’