UK to table Brexit plan shortly: PM
Britain will give the EU new proposals for a Brexit deal “shortly”, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said yesterday, but rejected reports it would see customs posts along the Irish border.
With 30 days to go until Britain is due to leave the European Union on October 31, Johnson is racing for an agreement to avoid yet another delay.
“We are going to make a very good offer. We will be tabling it formally very soon,” Johnson told BBC.
He declined to give details but media reports said they could be proposed as early as today.
He is focusing on the most controversial element, the so-called backstop plan to keep Britain subject to EU customs rules to allow goods to flow freely between British Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland after Brexit.
Irish broadcaster RTE reported late Monday that Britain has proposed erecting “customs clearance sites” along both sides of the border but located five to ten miles away to keep the actual frontier open.
Citing a “non-paper” provisional plan put forward by London, it said goods moving from one site to another would be monitored in real time on mobile phones or tracking devices placed on trucks.
But Ireland says there cannot be a return to the border infrastructure of the past, warning it could upset the peace process in Northern Ireland.
Comments