PATH TO A DEAL
Boris Johnson wins last-minute Brexit boost from talks with Irish PM Leo Varadkar as leaders declare they can ‘see a pathway’ to a deal
BORIS Johnson last night won a last-minute Brexit lifeline as he and Ireland’s leader declared they can “see a pathway” to a deal.
The possible breakthrough emerged after the PM and Leo Varadkar held talks alone for two hours in a luxury hotel on the Wirral.
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No10 officials had been glum going into the showdown, which was seen as the very last chance to salvage an agreement ahead of next week’s EU summit.
But in a surprise development, the pair emerged to tell waiting aides they had hit on a way through the bitter deadlock over Northern Ireland.
Irish sources claimed the PM had shifted ground “significantly” on the key impasse area of customs.
The major divide over whose customs regime Northern Ireland had been a red line for both leaders, should adopt had been seen as too gaping to bridge.
But on Boris’s strict personal orders, Downing Street aides remained ultra-tight lipped on what the two men had hammered out and didn’t even brief senior members of Boris’s Cabinet.
Instead, Mr Johnson and the Taoiseach released just a joint statement, saying their discussion had been “detailed and constructive”, and centred on the customs issue as well as how to win the consent of the people in Northern Ireland for any exit deal.
A No10 spokesman said: “They agreed that they could see a pathway to a possible deal. They agreed to reflect further on their discussions and that officials would continue to engage intensively on them.”
The emergency meeting in the celebrity venue Thornton Manor hotel ended up lasting almost four hours, double the length of its two-hour-long slot. Ex-England captain Wayne Rooney had once thrown a star-studded circus-themed 21st birthday party for wife Coleen there.
As the Brexit endgame entered a critical phase last night;
- The nervous DUP last night warned the PM any deal that left them in the EU customs orbit would be shot down in the Commons, as senior Downing Street figures last night briefed the unionist party’s leaders on the developments.
- All eyes will turn to Brussels this morning when Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay will ask the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier to approve the plan and commence a full-blown negotiations.
- It emerged last night that a deal may not be struck until very close to the October 31 exit deadline, meaning the PM may need to extend the UK’s membership of the EU by a week or two into November to pass it in the Commons.
'WE CAN MAKE PROGESS'
Senior aides joined Boris and Mr Varadkar for 40 minutes after their marathon two-hour session alone, before the two leaders then took a 15-minute walk around the garden as officials drew up their statement.
Before flying back to Dublin, Leo Varadkar dubbed the talks “very positive and very promising”, and said he is “absolutely convinced” that Mr Johnson does want to strike a deal.
But he refused to discuss rumours that either side had budged, saying: “I don’t think this should be seen in the context of who’s making concessions, or who the winners and losers are.
“I don’t think that’s the game any of us want to play.”
Mr Varadkar also suggested any deal would take longer than the six days left before the EU Council next Thursday, and might only come “by the end of October”.
That would leave Boris having to apply for a short technical extension to pass it through Parliament.
The PM’s critics leaped on that, with former Tory leadership rival-turned independent MP Rory Stewart insisting a deal by October 31 was “always impossible”.
Downing Street figures last night began the key process of winning over the DUP to the new plan, with Boris Johnson expected to call the unionist party’s leader Arlene Foster to brief her in person.
DUP sources last night warned that any attempt to keep Northern Ireland in the EU’s customs orbit, even temporarily, would not be acceptable to them.
A senior source from the unionist party told The Sun: “A customs border is an international border. If there is any suggestion that one would appear in the Irish Sea, this will not get through Parliament. It’s that simple”.
'WE ALL WANT A DEAL'
Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove said he was “delighted” by the outcome. Mr Gove said: “We all want a deal. I’m hopeful following the good conversation that they had that we can make progress in the days ahead”.
No10 had been desperate to keep the location private. But the Irish government is thought to have tipped off Dublin journalists, and as the two leaders met, Mr Varadkar also tweeted snaps of them shaking hands in the ageing country pile.
EU sources last night said this morning’s 9am breakfast meeting between Steve Barclay and Michel Barnier will be a make or break moment. Officials on the Frenchman’s negotiating team were briefed on the latest UK offer which was said to involve substantial concessions on customs.
Irish sources were upbeat that the development could pave the way for a deal which would involve a compromise from the EU side on consent. But diplomats in Brussels said the acid test for sealing a new package will be whether the PM can convince them it will secure a majority in Parliament.
An EU official said: “Let’s wait and see what Barclay brings. They had a good conversation. But is it a pathway to an empty-handed EU Council or days of further talks?”
And an EU diplomat added: “The key question being - is it the same path? If they have found a way through that would indeed be most welcome. If it’s a truce to string this out another week until the EU Council we might be less enthusiastic.”
Emmanuel Macron warned Boris Johnson that he will have to take the blame if a breakthrough doesn’t materialise.
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The French President said: “If they want to make a move which is compatible with what could be accepted by the 27, it is fine. If they don’t want to make any move or make something which is not accepted, they will have to take the responsibility.”
Before the meeting, business bosses pleaded with Britain and Ireland’s PMs not to walk away from yesterday’s talks. The Federation of Small Businesses warned that the nation’s little firms are “completely hamstrung by uncertainty”.
Addressing the leaders directly, CBI Deputy Director-General Josh Hardie added: “Business has an unequivocal message for both sides: put all your energy into compromise. Don’t walk away. Stay at the table and get a deal”.
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