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Boris Johnson will reveal plan for Brexit and Irish border ‘shortly’

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UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will unveil detailed plans for Brexit to the European Union before Thursday this week, including how to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland, a government source told Reuters on Monday night.

The UK is reportedly proposing a series of customs centres on both sides of the border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic, away from the frontier itself.

The Irish government and the UK’s Labour opposition have already dismissed the proposed details, as reported.

Johnson has confirmed in interviews on Tuesday morning that the government will table a new Brexit plan “shortly”, adding that he plans to talk to EU leaders. He said rejections of the plan appear to be based on previous proposals.

The prime minister has consistently said the UK will leave the EU on October 31 – even though parliament has legislated to try to block a no-deal Brexit. A forthcoming European Council summit on October 17-18 is seen as a decisive moment.

The news came hours after Sajid Javad, the Chancellor, said that the UK was ready to “draw on the full armoury of economic policy” if Britain had to leave the EU without a deal, something that Johnson continues to refuse to rule out as an option come October 31.

What do the proposals contain?

Late Monday night, Irish broadcaster RTE reported that the government had come up with a solution to the so-called ‘Irish backstop’, by setting up “customs clearance centres” on both sides of the border.

The plans involve using technology such as tracking devices, as well as customs declarations carried out at the centres, with data provided to customs authorities.

Downing Street – the UK prime minister’s office – has said the plans do not involve inspection posts, reports say.

Speaking to the BBC, Boris Johnson said border posts away from the frontier were “not what we are proposing at all”, and to the suggestion that a hard border was being proposed, he replied, “absolutely not”.

However, he did assert that checks would be inevitable, given that Northern Ireland and the European Union would be in separate regulatory areas after Brexit.

The proposals as reported appear to be similar to those put forward previously by Boris Johnson’s allies, who have long favoured using technology as part of alternative arrangements to the backstop.

The plan would head off the danger of a border down the Irish Sea between Northern Ireland and Britain, which unionists oppose.

It would build on proposals also mooted by the UK in mid-September, which would see a single regulatory area between north and south for health checks on animals and food.

‘Non-paper = non-starter’

UK and EU officials have held regular meetings in Brussels in recent weeks. But so far all British proposals have fallen short of EU and Irish demands for a legally credible guarantee.

The new proposals are contained in legally non-binding documents known as “non-papers”. Ireland’s Foreign Minister Simon Coveney tweeted to say “Non-Paper = Non-Starter”, calling for a “serious proposal”.

Labour’s Brexit spokesman Sir Keir Starmer said on Twitter that if true, the proposals are “utterly unworkable” and row back on commitments to avoid a return to a hard border.

‘Let’s get Brexit done’

Johnson has split parliament, his party and the electorate by promising to deliver Brexit on October 31, with or without a transition agreement – at the risk of triggering shortages of food, medicine and fuel.

The prime minister is repeating a new slogan in an attempt to drive home his message: “Let’s get Brexit done”. Critics say a no-deal Brexit will resolve nothing and create chaos.

Speaking at the Conservative party conference in Manchester a month before Britain is due to leave the EU, Sajid Javid said his department would prepare a comprehensive response, working with the Bank of England.

“I’ve tasked the Treasury with preparing a comprehensive economic response to support the economy, working closely with the Bank of England,” Javid said. “Deal or no deal, we will be ready.”

Treasury officials said that response would need to be set out in a budget but declined to say when that budget would happen or what it might contain.

Read more: Conservative party conference venue received €4.2m in EU funding

Johnson and members of his cabinet have repeatedly said that they want to reach a deal with EU leaders before the end of October deadline, but a major sticking point remains the Irish border, when Northern Ireland leaves the EU.

The backstop contained in the withdrawal agreement – negotiated by the EU with Theresa May’s government but repeatedly rejected by the UK parliament – is an insurance policy to guarantee an open border.

If Brexit produces no free trade deal or agreement on alternative arrangements, the UK would remain in a temporary customs union with the EU, with Northern Ireland more closely aligned to some EU rules. Brexit supporters say it risks keeping the UK trapped within the EU’s sphere.

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