Britain can strike a new Brexit deal with the EU to avoid crashing out without a deal, Boris Johnson insisted at talks with the Irish taoiseach on Monday, describing a no-deal Brexit as a “failure of statecraft”.
Despite the upbeat message, the UK prime minister’s first trip to Dublin since taking office highlighted the sharp differences between him and Leo Varadkar over the Irish backstop, which aims to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland.
“I have one message that I want to land with you today, Leo, that is I want to find a deal, I want to get a deal,” Mr Johnson said at a press conference ahead of the meeting. “Be in no doubt we can do it and will address it enthusiastically.”
Mr Varadkar replied that he was ready to listen to “constructive ways” to settle the issue, but added that Dublin needed legally binding and workable proposals, which his government has not yet received.
“What we cannot do, and will not do, is replace a legal guarantee with a promise,” he said. “In the absence of agreed alternative arrangements, no backstop is no-deal for us.”
The backstop, a key component of the deal agreed with the EU by Mr Johnson’s predecessor, Theresa May, is opposed by Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party, which has propped up the minority Conservative government in Westminster. The DUP believes it could divide Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK.
Dublin saw the meeting between the two leaders as an opportunity to assess what exactly Mr Johnson has in mind to break the logjam, but no breakthrough is expected until a summit of EU leaders on October 17, only a fortnight before the UK is due to leave the bloc.
In a joint statement after the talks, the British and Irish governments said divisions remained despite some progress. “While they agreed that the discussions are at an early stage, common ground was established in some areas although significant gaps remain.”
Mr Johnson, who claimed to have an “abundance of proposals” to replace the backstop, said his plan centred on an all- Ireland agricultural zone and trusted trader schemes. However, these measures have already been rejected by Dublin.
Ireland is open, however, to the idea of replacing the all-uk backstop rejected by Mr Johnson with a backstop covering only Northern Ireland. But this option is much wider than the agricultural plan the UK premier has proposed — and it has been repeatedly rejected by the DUP.
Mr Varadkar has also indicated that he wants to hear from Mr Johnson whether he can actually get any new deal over the line. The British prime minister has lost his parliamentary majority, suffered ministerial defections and faces the prospect of losing a Westminster vote later on Monday on his demand to call a snap election next month.
