Boris tells EU to ‘jump over’ and support his new Brexit plan

Boris Johnson has called on EU leaders to ‘grasp the opportunity’ his new Brexit proposal provides despite already being told his offer is unworkable and threatens peace in Ireland.

The Prime Minister also repeated his vow not to delay the UK’s departure from the EU saying Britain will pack its bags and walk away on 31 October.

How this marries with his approach to Scotland’s highest civil court – where court papers showed Mr Johnson accepted he must request a delay to Brexit beyond the deadline if no deal is agreed with Parliament in 13 days time – is unclear.

The PM said his blueprint for departure was a ‘practical compromise’ that gave ground where necessary but said it remained to be seen whether Europe will ‘cheerily wave us off’ with a deal.

The latest sticking point centres on the future of the border in Ireland.

Mr Johnson’s plan would necessitate checks and controls on the island of Ireland once the north left the EU customs union at the end of a transition period in December 2020, along with the rest of the UK.

Northern Ireland would also stay aligned with EU standards on goods – if Stormont agreed – and the matter would then be voted on every four years.

The major sticking point, and where some argue the process has been designed to fail, is that the UK is also asking that both sides sign in treaty ‘never to conduct checks at the border’ even if Stormont pulls out of the deal after 2020.

The EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier said this would prevent Brussels protecting its internal market as it would no longer have any controls over goods, for example chlorinated chicken, coming into the customs union.

Mr Barnier is reported to have told an event in Paris: ‘If they do not change, I do not believe, on the basis of the mandate I have been given by the EU27, that we can advance.’

In comments reported by The Observer, he also doubled down that a no-deal would ‘never be Europe’s choice… it would always be the UK’s choice, not ours’.

Solving this remains central to the future of any deal. Failure to get it right could cause lasting damage to the Norther Irish peace process laid down in the Good Friday agreement.

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair wrote in the Guardian that although Mr Johnson’s latest gambit represented ‘a significant concession’ it created an ‘incoherent muddle leading to a bizarre outcome’

Mr Blair said: ‘Crucial to maintenance of the peace was the idea of an open border between north and south in recognition of the fact that around the border families intermingled, did business and trade and moved, often several times a day, across it.

‘They were separate countries but treated for the practical purposes of daily life as if they were the same.’

He said Europe’s role in the 1998 agreement was key as trade had become a vital part of the island of Ireland’s economy, diminishing the border’s significance.

Mr Blair concluded: ‘The open border between north and south was key. Had that been in doubt, there would never have been a peace agreement. Simple as that.’

But Mr Johnson argued his position represented compromise – or the UK ‘jumping to the island in the middle of the river’ – and that the EU should follow suit.

Writing in the Sun on Sunday, he added: ‘If we’re to leave with a deal, we now need the EU to jump over from its side and join us there, showing its own willingness to do a deal that the UK Parliament can support.’

Undeterred, the PM called on MPs to back his deal saying the EU would be more likely to accept Britain’s ‘outstretched hand’ and make that ‘leap on to the island’ if he was armed with a set of proposals parliament supported.

He added: ‘So I say to our European friends: grasp the opportunity that our new proposal provides. Join us at the negotiating table in a spirit of compromise and co-operation. And let’s make Brexit work for both sides.

‘We are leaving in 25 days. We can do it with a deal if the EU is willing.

‘But they should be under no illusions or misapprehensions. There will be no more dither. No more delay. On October 31 we are going to get Brexit done.’

The united front was maintained in other titles with Mr Johnson’s Brexit secretary Stephen Barclay writing in the Sunday Telegraph that the country was ‘approaching the moment of truth’.

He added: ‘We hope the EU will come to the table in the spirit of compromise and match our creativity and flexibility.

‘If they do, we will leave with a new deal. If they shut the door on us, then we are prepared to leave without a deal.

‘But the latter would be in neither side’s interest. It would bring disruption for us, and disruption for the EU.’

And Nicky Morgan, who voted remain and is now culture secretary, wrote in the Observer that Johnson’s plan was ‘the best chance we have to break the deadlock and leave.’