Prime Minister Boris Johnson reiterated in a letter to European Council President Donald Tusk that the Irish backstop was unacceptable. He said, “it presents the whole of the UK with the choice of remaining in a customs union and aligned with those rules, or of seeing Northern Ireland gradually detached from the UK economy across a very broad range of areas”. And, “both of those outcomes are unacceptable to the British government.”
Instead, Johnson said both the UK and EU have already agreed that “alternative arrangements” can be part of the solution. And he said: “I propose that the backstop should be replaced with a commitment to put in place such arrangements as far as possible before the end of the transition period, as part of the future relationship. I also recognise that there will need to be a degree of confidence about what would happen if these arrangements were not all fully in place at the end of that period. We are ready to look constructively and flexibly at what commitments might help, consistent of course with the principles set out in this letter.”
Separately, UK Conservative Party co-chairman James Cleverly said UK will be leaving EU on October 31. He noted, “the recognition of that will help the EU negotiators understand what they need to do.” He also emphasized “the decision as to whether we leave with or without a deal is largely now in the hands of European Union negotiators”. And he urged EU to show some flexibility over Irish backstop.
