Boris Johnson’s bid to secure Brexit

Boris Johnson will launch his bid to secure Brexit later this week with allies admitting they could know “by weekend” whether the EU is willing to engage with a detailed proposals to resolve the Irish border issue or if Britain is heading for a no-deal departure.

Boris Johnson ,is hoping Leo Varadkar, Irish Prime Minister, indicating to the EU that the proposal could from the basis of a deal, addressing the key issue of avoiding the return of the physical border infrastructure.

A senior government official said “ Nobody here is expecting Ireland to be thrown under the bus. That is obviously not going to happen”.

Mr Johnson said any deal must be able to satisfy both Mr Varadkar and the Democratic Union Party “ Everyone has to hold hands and jump into the swimming pool together “.

The British proposal will try to reduce the need for regulatory checks at he border by proposing that agriculture and food will be part of a single “all Ireland” regulatory space. Britain could add by suggesting manufactured goods be included , as long as “consent’ is provided by a reconvened Stormont assembly. The DUP has warned it would oppose any plan that imposed new checks in the Irish Sea.

The British proposal would still rely on Ireland and the rest of the EU accepting “alternative arrangements” to deal with the big outstanding issue of customs. The EU has rejected such ideas an unviable , untested or even non-existent.