Boris Johnson delivers new Brexit plan to European Union
Boris Johnson’s Brexit plans to avoid border checks in Ireland will include rivers of cash to offset any downsides of Northern Ireland leaving the European Union.
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Boris Johnson’s bold Brexit plans to avoid border checks in Ireland will include rivers of cash to offset any downsides of Northern Ireland leaving the European Union.
As Mr Johnson plans to seek parliament to be prorogued, or suspended, for a second time next week, he outlined his plans for a deal with the European Union.
The move comes after the Supreme Court ruled Mr Johnson’s first attempt to prorogue parliament was unlawful.
Mr Johnson wrote to European Union leaders outlining a plan to put customs checks at ports instead of near the border to replace the hated Irish backstop.
Ireland has been cool on the new proposals, saying while it wants a deal, it was ready for the UK to leave on a no-deal Brexit as a blame game begins.
“We are ready for no deal if that’s what the British decide to do,” Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said.
There was now just over a week for the EU and UK to reach an agreement, with the odds of a no-deal Brexit on October 31 rising.
Mr Johnson spoke with European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker early on Thursday Australian time to sell his plan, which also included giving Northern Ireland a bigger say on its future.
Mr Juncker said while there had been some “positive advances”, there remained “problematic points” particularly over the “governance of the backstop” which needed to be resolved.
Mr Johnson has received support for his plan from Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party, whose votes would be crucial in getting a deal done.
Eurosceptic MPs have also quietly supported the proposals and were receiving detailed briefings.
However, it remains unclear how many votes he will have in his own party after he booted out 21 MPs for voting against a no-deal Brexit.
Labour has already rejected Mr Johnson’s plans, saying it was worse than the Withdrawal Agreement presented to parliament by his predecessor Theresa May.
He also needs to find a way around a new “surrender bill” which demands he seek an extension to Brexit if he has not reached a deal by October 19.
In his letter, Mr Johnson said failure to reach an agreement ahead of Britain’s scheduled withdrawal from the EU on October 31 would represent “a failure of statecraft for which we would all be responsible”.
“Both sides now need to consider whether there is sufficient willingness to compromise and move beyond existing positions to get us to an agreement in time,” he said.
“We are ready to do that, and this letter sets out what I regard as a reasonable compromise: the broad landing zone in which I believe a deal can begin to take shape.”
Under Mr Johnson’s proposal there would be checks at ports and some electronic checks on goods to avoid building a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland.
All sides of politics want to protect the Good Friday Agreement, signed in 1998 to end decades of sectarian violence.
Britain has also offered to keep Northern Ireland following EU rules of food and goods.
However, Northern Ireland would follow EU customs rules so there would be no restrictions on the UK signing new free trade deals.
Mr Johnson added: “To support Northern Ireland through this transition, and in collaboration with others with an interest, this government proposes a New Deal for Northern Ireland with appropriate commitments to help boost economic growth and Northern Ireland’s competitiveness, and to support infrastructure projects, particularly with a cross-border focus.”
Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, said of the proposals: “We will look carefully at the proposals. I can’t say anything about them yet today.”
BORIS POINTS TO REALITY TV
During his keynote speech at the Conservative Party conference, Boris Johnson compared British politics to reality TV show I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here as he vowed to push on with Brexit “come what may”.
In an upbeat, defiant speech, Mr Johnson said he was determined to get Britain out of the European Union on October 31, despite what appear to be insurmountable odds.
And he pushed on with his demands for a general election, saying Labour was “chicken” and that parliament was not working.
“If Parliament were a reality TV show then a whole lot of us I’m afraid would have been voted out of the jungle by now,” he said, referring to the popular British reality show which also airs in Australia.
“But at least we would have the consolation of a Speaker being forced to eat a kangaroo testicle.”
Mr Johnson lost his majority in parliament when he kicked out 21 MPs for voting against a no-deal Brexit, while another two resigned.
He has had battles with speaker John Bercow, who has since quit after claims he helped politicians with tactics to delay Brexit.
Mr Johnson in his speech rejected suggestions this week that there may be some customs checks on or near the Irish border, with the “Irish backstop” being the major stumbling block in talks.
In its proposals to the EU on how to deal with the Irish border after Brexit, Britain suggested a zone of regulatory compliance across Northern Ireland and the EU to eliminate checks for trade in goods.
Before the end of a transition period after Brexit in December 2020, the Northern Ireland assembly and executive would be required to give their consent to this arrangement and every four years afterwards, the proposal document said. Northern Ireland would stay part of the UK’s customs territory but to avoid customs checks, a declaration system would be introduced with a simplified process for small traders, along with a trusted-traders scheme.
He added that he would “respect the peace process and the Good Friday Agreement” which ended years of bloodshed in Northern Ireland.
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Mr Johnson, who also spoke of his love of buses, said the British people wanted to “get Brexit done.”
“That is why we are coming out of the EU on October 31, come what may,” he said.
A new law requires Mr Johnson to write to the EU next month to seek an extension until January 31, which he has labelled the “surrender bill.”
It was unclear how he could get around the law.
“We will work for a deal with our EU friends, but whatever happens we must come out by the end of October,” Mr Johnson added.
“The alternative is no deal.”
His message was a softer version of press briefings that he would send EU leaders a “take it or leave it” offer.
European Commission spokeswoman Mina Andreeva said “the EU wants a deal.”
“We think an orderly withdrawal is far more preferable than a no-deal scenario,” she said last night.
“And in order for there to be a deal we must have a legally operable solution that meets all the objectives of the backstop preventing a hard border, preserving the north-south co-operation and the all-Ireland economy, and protecting the EU’s single market and Ireland’s place in it.”
Northern Ireland Secretary Julian Smith said the British Government had to be “very careful about upsetting” the “hard-won stability” anywhere along the Irish land border with its fresh backstop proposals.
stephen.drill@news.co.uk
Originally published as Boris Johnson delivers new Brexit plan to European Union
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