BORIS: TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT

PM’s dramatic final Brexit offer to EU ++ He plans ‘two borders for four years’ to solve backstop

BORIS Johnson will today make a take-it-or-leave-it Brexit offer to the EU.

In a speech to the Conservative Party conference he will warn Brussels that ‘a new deal or No Deal’ are the only options.

The Prime Minister will set out a ‘two borders for four years’ plan to resolve the backstop issue by leaving Northern Ireland in a special relationship with Brussels that would last for four years from the end of the transition period in January 2021.

Presented to EU leaders yesterday, the scheme will face opposition because it will need sweeping exemptions from EU customs rules. The Irish government will also claim it risks breaching the Good Friday Agreement.

After 2025, the Stormont assembly would be free to choose whether to stick to EU single market rules or follow British ones. A senior government source said Britain would leave the EU on October 31 without agreement if Brussels did not ‘engage’. This is despite MPs passing a law ruling out a No Deal exit. The source added: ‘It is take it or leave it. Officials have made clear that if Brussels does not engage with

this offer, then this Government will not negotiate further until we have left the EU. Officials also made clear the Prime Minister will in no circumstances negotiate a delay at the EU Council on October 17.’

Downing Street would not comment on the details of the scheme that were leaked to the Daily Telegraph.

a highly-placed no 10 source said that Brussels should not try to bypass the Prime Minister in favour of MPs.

‘The EU is obliged by EU law only to negotiate with member state governments, they cannot negotiate with Parliament,’ said the insider.

David Frost, who is Mr Johnson’s chief Brexit adviser, will deliver details of the blueprint to Brussels today.

The Government hopes that the EU will agree to enter the ‘tunnel’ – code for intensive, secret negotiations aimed at finding a compromise.

But Mr Johnson faced a backlash yesterday when he confirmed for the first time that his plan will involve customs checks on the island of Ireland. a senior EU diplomat accused him of adopting ‘kamikaze’ tactics, saying Brussels would never accept the plan.

Incoming EU trade commissioner Phil Hogan said another delay was now more likely than a deal.

However Brussels was last night reported to be considering putting a time limit on the backstop – a concession it had ruled out. Mr Johnson’s offer came as:

Cabinet sources confirmed that hardline Brexiteers would be expelled from the party if they voted against Mr Johnson’s plans later this month;

Downing Street denied rumours that Parliament would be suspended before a Queen’s speech on October 14;

Mr Johnson suggested he would ask EU leaders to rule out any further delay if a deal is struck, forcing MPs to choose between deal or no Deal;

Tory grandee Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown was kicked out of the conference after police were called to an incident in which he clashed with security staff.;

In media interviews yesterday, Mr Johnson said the chances of a deal were very good, provided the EU showed ‘common sense’. Under the new plan, the two sides would agree an all-Ireland food and agriculture zone to allow livestock and food to continue moving freely across the border.

Mr Johnson will suggest the plan could be extended to cover industrial goods, provided the northern Ireland assembly agreed. The entire UK would leave the customs union, meaning that customs checks would be needed on goods crossing the border. But these would be carried out away from the border in order to reduce the risk of tensions.

The rest of the agreement negotiated by Theresa May would stay in place, including the £39billion divorce bill and an ‘ implementation period’ until the start of 2021.

The senior EU diplomat said: ‘The kamikaze way this is now being dealt with by the UK Government is not something we’ve chosen.’

‘Another delay is likely’

AFTER the stonewalling, condescension and ill-tempered bluster of the last three years, the endgame is almost upon us.

Over the next few days, we will finally discover whether the EU is really serious about forging a viable Brexit deal – or just playing for time in the hope that the Remain alliance will prevail, and overturn the referendum result. The fundamentals are simple. The backstop is dead, having been voted down three times in the Commons. An alternative must be found, or there will be No Deal.

Fine, says Brussels, show us a viable replacement which avoids a hard Irish border while protecting the single market and we will listen.

Within the next 24 hours the UK’s detailed proposal for that replacement will be presented.

And Boris Johnson has made clear this is a take it or leave it offer. If Brussels does not engage with it, he says Britain will leave the EU with No Deal on October 31.

We don’t know the details of the proposal, but we have clues.

Both sides have said they would never erect border posts, but as there will be two customs regimes on the island of Ireland after Brexit, goods coming in and out will have to be checked somewhere.

In a huge concession Mr Johnson is prepared to agree an all-Ireland customs zone for agriculture, in which the North would remain closely aligned to EU regulations. This would negate the need for checks on livestock and agri-products – which form the vast bulk of commercial cross-border traffic.

It’s controversial, as Northern Ireland would be treated separately from the rest of the UK – something that makes loyalists very suspicious.

But the Democratic Unionist Party appears to be on- side, which should be enough to push it through.

As for the transfer of non-agricultural goods, Mr Johnson proposes a system of remote ‘clearance centres’, backed by technological advances such as GPS tracking, and a ‘trusted trader’ scheme.

So the question is, how will Brussels react? Chief negotiator Michel Barnier has already conceded that customs checks would be carried out away from the border in the event of No Deal. Then why not now? Having accepted remote checks in principle, to reject them as part of a possible solution to the Brexit stalemate would surely be the height of hypocrisy.

If Brussels does reject these ‘do or die’ proposals, the spectre of No Deal will loom larger than ever, with potentially disastrous consequences for the Irish Republic.

Germany too, teetering on the edge of recession, would suffer hugely, which is why Angela Merkel has been making conciliatory noises.

With so much animus in the air, it’s true that a compromise still looks improbable. But with good faith and hard work on both sides, it’s not out of the question.

However, even if an agreement is struck, our Remain- dominated Parliament is in such truculent mood that it would very likely vote it down.

If it did, Mr Johnson would have a compelling choice to offer the people at a subsequent general election.

Vote Boris and get Brexit done. Or remain stuck in this political morass indefinitely.