Boris Johnson’s Brexit demand ‘unheard of’
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will order politicians sit on a Saturday for the first time since the Falklands War as he races to secure a Brexit deal.
World
Don't miss out on the headlines from World. Followed categories will be added to My News.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has played down hopes of a breakthrough in his last-ditch bid to strike an amicable divorce deal with the European Union.
Mr Johnson has said he can see “a way forward” to reaching a deal with the EU in “all our interests” before Brexit is due to happen on 31 October.
But the British PM warned the cabinet there was still a “significant amount of work” to do, as EU and UK officials continue to hash out a deal.
Secret talks were held over the weekend as UK and European leaders fine tuned a potential deal, as negotiations went into a “tunnel” where both sides promised not to leak details of negotiations.
Negotiators went behind closed doors for intensive talks in Brussels after Mr Johnson outlined a new set of proposals to Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar on Thursday.
They have very little time left to succeed.
It comes as Mr Johnson will demand politicians sit on a Saturday — October 19 — for the first time since the Falklands War to get a Brexit deal done, with the Queen to deliver a speech on Monday to open parliament.
EU leaders will meet on Thursday and Friday for a summit held under the pressures of the October 31 Brexit deadline just two weeks away.
Chief EU negotiator Michel Barnier called the weekend negotiations “constructive” enough to keep going for another day.
“A lot of work remains to be done,” Mr Barnier stressed in a statement to EU ambassadors.
“Discussions at technical level will continue (Monday).” Downing Street said Mr Johnson also told his cabinet to brace for a cliffhanger finish.
He reiterated “that a pathway to a deal could be seen but that there is still a significant amount of work to get there and we must remain prepared to leave on October 31,” a Downing Street spokesman said.
Mr Johnson rose to power in July on a promise not to extend Brexit for a third time this year — even for a few weeks.
Breaking that pledge could come back to haunt him in an early general election that most predict for the coming months.
Mr Johnson is under parliamentary orders to seek an extension until January 31 of next year if no deal emerges by Saturday.
He has promised to both follow the law and get Britain out by October 31 — a contradiction that might end up being settled in court.
The Irish border question remains the key problem that Mr Johnson will need to solve.
“If Boris gives away too much that could be difficult,” Matthew Lesh, head of research at the London-based Adam Smith Institute said.
“While they are on their way towards getting a deal done it’s hard to know where each side will compromise.”
There have been suggestions of a complex work around for keeping Northern Ireland in a customs union with the EU but paying them back if the UK signs free trade deals with other countries for lower tariffs.
One of Mr Johnson’s crucial allies, the Northern Ireland based Democratic Unionist Party, has warned against a half-baked deal.
MORE NEWS
Biden’s son steps down amid Trump protests
Serial stowaway arrested at airport
Deadly typhoon leaves trail of destruction
DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds said the proposed solution “cannot work”.
“Northern Ireland must stay in a full UK customs union, full stop,” he told the Italian La Repubblica newspaper.
“There is a lot of stuff coming from Brussels, pushed by the Europeans in the last hours, but one thing is sure: Northern Ireland must remain fully part of the UK customs union. And Boris Johnson knows it very well.”
The Queen will outline Mr Johnson’s plans for the next session of parliament in the traditional speech that sets out the government’s priorities on Monday.
The speech was expected to include a cash bonanza for the National Health Service, extra police and super fast broadband services in a country notorious for its slow internet.
But, in extraordinary circumstances, Mr Johnson will likely lose a vote on the contents of his speech as he does not have a majority in the House of Commons.
However there was some hope, as a new poll showed Mr Johnson’s Conservative Party would win a general election, if Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn agreed to call one.
The ComRes poll, commissioned by the Daily Express, put the Conservatives on 33 points, Labour 27, Liberal Democrats 18, and the Brexit Party on 12 in the first past the post system that does not factor in preferences like the Australian system.
Mr Johnson must get a deal done by Saturday or by law seek a Brexit extension from the EU, although he has repeatedly claimed he would leave without a deal by October 31.
There has been no credible public plan of how he would get around the parliament of the courts if he was to pursue a no-deal Brexit.
Labour’s Brexit secretary said Mr Johnson he must comply with the Benn Act and seek a further delay.
“If he can’t — or I should say won’t — get a deal we will take whatever steps are necessary to prevent our country crashing out of the EU without a deal,” he said.
“If no deal is secured by this time next week, Boris Johnson must seek and accept an extension. That’s the law. No ifs, no buts.”