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The existing agreement just doesn't work for the UK and parliament's thrown it out three times. We can't have this backstop. So I'm...
Boris Johnson has laid out his tough Brexit negotiating stance. In a letter to Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, the prime minister has said that the Irish border backstop is incompatible with his vision for the UK's future. He says it's undemocratic and must be scrapped if both sides want to avoid a no-deal Brexit on October 31. But the letter has been roundly rejected by Brussels, who have in turn accused Mr Johnson of dishonesty. So what's going on, and what does it mean for Brexit?
The prime minister.
Since entering Downing Street, Mr Johnson has said that the insurance policy of a temporary customs union to make sure there is never hard border on the island of Ireland, has to go. In his four-page letter to Mr Tusk he spelled out exactly why. Mr Johnson says the backstop breaks the Good Friday Agreement that has helped deliver peace in Ireland for 20 years. He says it poses an intolerable constraint on the UK after it has left the bloc. He claims it's undemocratic and crucially, it would keep Brexit Britain within the EU's regulatory orbit and would limit its ability to diverge after Brexit.
With the letter, the prime minister wanted to look as reasonable as possible, to appear constructive in the face of what he is likely to say is intransigence by the EU. Some in Westminster think, however, that he's laying the grounds for a blame game against Brussels if the UK ends up leaving the EU without a deal. Everything in this letter has essentially been said before. We know the EU isn't budging on the backstop, and we know that Mr Johnson himself wants it removed. The prime minister is off to Berlin, then to Paris, and then Biarritz later this week for the G7 summit, his debut on the world stage. But given his stance on the backstop and the uncompromising response from the EU, Number 10 isn't expecting any kind of Brexit breakthrough.
Yes, there will be smiles and pleasantries, but the fact is there is no progress and that does not bode well for a smooth Brexit. In September, it's then over to the House of Commons to see whether the majority of MPs opposed to no-deal can find a way of thwarting the prime minister's plan. The next Brexit battle is set to be over domestic legislation, and whether parliament can force Mr Johnson into yet another Brexit delay. It is going to be a very bumpy ride ahead.
The longer that goes on, the more likely it is, of course, that we will be forced to leave with a no-deal Brexit.
