The European Parliament has said it would veto Boris Johnson’s Brexit proposals, warning that they are “not even remotely acceptable” as a solution to the Irish border problem.
Speaking after a meeting of the legislature’s Brexit steering group, the parliament’s Brexit coordinator Guy Verhofstadt said the plans were “mainly a repackaging of the bad ideas that have already been floated in the past”.
A formal statement from his steering group said the proposals “do not match even remotely what was agreed as a sufficient compromise in the backstop”.
The Taoiseach of The Republic, Leo Varadkar, said: “If we are going to be in two different customs unions I think that creates a real difficulty that is going to be hard to reconcile.”
Meanwhile The Republic of Ireland’s deputy premier Simon Coveney has said his government “cannot possibly support” any Brexit deal that would give a Stormont party a veto over the operation of post-Brexit arrangements.
Coveney said Boris Johnson’s proposal for customs checks on the island also presented a problem.
The prime minister wants to give the Northern Ireland Assembly a vote on whether to opt in to an all-island regulatory system post-Brexit, and also give the devolved legislature a say on whether it wants to continue the arrangement after an initial four-year period.
Speaking the Irish parliament in Dublin, Coveney said: “We cannot support any proposal that suggests that one party or indeed a minority in Northern Ireland could make the decision for the majority in terms of how these proposals would be implemented in the future.
“That is not consistent with the Good Friday Agreement. It is not something we could possibly support as part of any final deal.”
As things stand Boris Johnson still wants to leave on 31st of October Deal or No Deal but is faced with overcoming the Benn Act which makes it unlawful to leave the EU without a deal.
Lead Correspondent | David Clews is the Lead Correspondent for UNN, with over 20 years of political/campaigning experience and a wealth of social media and communication skills David gets to the heart of what is really important to the real people of the UK.
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