BORIS’S EU SHOWDOWN
PM promises ‘plenty of oomph’ in talks with Merkel and co He warns EU to ditch Irish backstop or it will be No Deal Tusk snaps back ...with cheeky pic of himself lazing in a hammock
BORIS Johnson vowed to inject ‘oomph’ into the Brexit talks last night as he prepared to warn Angela Merkel that Britain is ready to walk away without a deal.
Ahead of a showdown meeting with the German Chancellor this evening, the Prime Minister insisted there needed to be a ‘total backstop-ectomy’ or the UK would leave on No Deal terms.
Yesterday, Mr Johnson found himself embroiled in an extraordinary war of words with Brussels after his demands for the removal of the backstop were overwhelmingly rejected by the EU.
European Council president Donald Tusk – who cheekily posted a picture online of himself lazing on a hammock – issued an angry rebuttal, accusing the Prime Minister of secretly agitating for the return of a hard border by insisting that the backstop be ditched.
That led to Downing Street accusing Mr Tusk of over-reacting and warning that there was ‘no prospect of a deal’ unless the backstop was abolished.
And last night, Mr Johnson took to the airwaves himself to accuse Mr Tusk of negativity and insist he was still confident they could agree new terms for the UK to leave the EU with a deal in ten weeks’ time. The Prime Minister also took a swipe at Theresa May for failing to make the case ‘convincingly’ to the EU to get rid of the Irish backstop. And he pointed the finger at rebel MPs who want to stop No Deal, claiming Brussels would hold back concessions until it has seen whether they succeed at blocking him in the Commons.
In a typically colourful intervention, Mr Johnson said: ‘We think there is a big opportunity now for everybody to come together [and] take out that backstop.
‘At the moment it is absolutely true that our friends and partners are a bit negative. I saw what Donald Tusk had to say – it wasn’t redolent of a sense of optimism.
‘But I think actually we will get there. I think there is a real sense that something needs to be done with this backstop.’
He added: ‘I am going to go at it with a lot of oomph as you’d expect and I hope we will be making some progress in the course of the next few weeks.’
The Prime Minister told Sky News last night: ‘Clearly, one thing that slightly complicates the picture is our EU friends still clearly think there is a possibility that Parliament will block Brexit, and as long as they think that there is a possibility that Parliament will block Brexit, they are unlikely to be minded to make the concessions that we need. So it is going to take a bit of patience.’
It came as the Government continued its bid to ‘turbocharge’ preparations for the growing possibility of a No Deal Brexit on October 31. Meanwhile, in a string of other developments:
The Government announced UK ministers and officials will no longer attend most European Union meetings from September 1;
Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay said: ‘This will free up time for ministers and their officials to get on with preparing for our departure on October 31 and seizing the opportunities that lie ahead.’
Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid warned there is ‘no time to delay’ as he unveiled plans to automatically enrol businesses onto customs systems in the case of No Deal;
Some £9million was allocated to local authorities to help ensure that they are staffed to deal with any issues that may arise at ports;
The BBC reported that the future of the UK’s fuel refineries could be threatened by a No Deal Brexit, according to an internal local authority documents;
A poll showed the overwhelming majority of voters do not want Jeremy Corbyn to take over as a caretaker prime minister;
And Sir David Attenborough waded into the Brexit debate, saying that people are ‘irritated’ with the EU’s ‘silly’ interference.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister will today embark on his first foreign trip as leader, starting with a dinner with the German Chancellor this evening in Berlin.
He will then head to Paris for lunch with French President Emmanuel Macron tomorrow ahead of the G7 summit in Biarritz at the weekend.
But the EU yesterday robustly
‘It’s true our friends are a bit negative’
dismissed a letter from Mr Johnson demanding that the backstop is replaced. Mr Tusk, who chairs meetings of EU leaders, tweeted: ‘The backstop is an insurance to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland unless and until an alternative is found.
‘Those against the backstop and not proposing realistic alternatives in fact support re- establishing a border. Even if they do not admit it.’ Mrs Merkel said that she was open to finding ‘practical solutions’ to the Irish border issue, but insisted the EU would remain united in its refusal to re-open the Brexit deal and axe the backstop.
But Mr Johnson last night retaliated, telling ITV News: ‘The particular problem is the backstop and all we are saying to our friends and partners is it is time to remove that backstop.
‘Get rid of it, have a total backstopectomy and I think then we can make progress and I’m very optimistic if we can do that we can [get] the deal we want.’
Asked if his predecessor had failed to make the case convincingly to remove the backstop, he replied: ‘Yes. Absolutely. What I am saying is that if you look at what the UK Government was doing, it was basically reconciled psychologically, emotionally, intellectually to remaining within in the customs union and orbit of EU law... within the empire of EU legislation.
‘What we are saying is there are lots of ways you can continue to have frictionless trade, free movement of goods and people across the border in Northern Ireland and at other EU/ UK borders whilst simultaneously allowing the UK to come out of the EU.’
He added: ‘I’m going to go of course and see if I can explore those ideas with our friends in Germany and France and at the G7 – let’s see where we get to. It may be that for now, they stick with the mantra, rien ne va plus, and they can’t change a jot or a tittle of the Withdrawal Agreement... Let’s see how long they stick to that, I think there are plenty of other creative solutions.’
Mr Johnson said that it was ‘ a bit paradoxical’ that the EU side was talking about reintroducing checks on the Irish border when the UK had ‘ made it clear 1,000 times’ that British officials would not do the same. Leo Varadkar, the Irish prime minister, has often stressed that the re- emergence of a hard border could lead to a return to Troubles- era violence.
‘Get rid of it, have a backstop-ectomy’