Brexit: No-deal grows more likely as UK refuses to table new plan for Northern Ireland border backstop

The UK is refusing to table a new plan for a Northern Ireland border backstop in Brexit talks – raising the prospect of disastrous no-deal as the negotiating deadline looms.

Frustrated EU officials are complaining that the UK is even making it harder for them to come up with their own new plan to break the deadlock, by dragging its feet on releasing data relating to existing checks on the border.

The Northern Ireland backstop is the biggest issue preventing withdrawal agreement from being signed – a state of affairs that would see the UK crash out of the block potentially causing chaos.

Brussels and Ireland have both said they would not accept a withdrawal agreement without a backstop in it to prevent a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland under any circumstances.

Theresa May flat-out rejected the EU proposal to keep Northern Ireland in the EU customs territory months ago, warning that “no British prime minister” could agree to it – but there has since been little progress on coming up with an alternative.

British officials in Brussels confirmed to The Independent again on Thursday that there were no immediate plans to publish a new white paper or other plan for a backstop, despite the EU request for a new proposal.

The British position is to offer a “temporary customs arrangement” from early June coupled with the Chequers proposals – meaning there is no need for a backstop. But EU has said this plan would not prevent a hard border and that other proposals are needed.

British officials say they want to prevent a hard border by negotiating a future relationship that removes the need for checks – but the prime minister’s Chequers plan has been all-but rejected by the European Commission.

For months there have been reports around Brussels that the commission is working on tweaking its own backstop proposal to “de-dramatise” it and make it more palatable to the UK, but new plans have yet to materialise.

The British government sees keeping Northern Ireland in the customs union as a thread to British sovereignty, and the Democratic Unionist Party which props up Theresa May’s minority government has said it will not accept different treatment for Northern Ireland.

But Brussels officials familiar with negotiations say that the commission’s plans to come up with an alternative backstop have been slow because the UK has not yet provided data about checks which already take place on the border, which the commission believes might help it come up with a new proposal.

One frustrated Brussels official said: “While also refusing to table their own version of a backstop, the UK is refusing to hand over the data.”

But British officials say they will be handing over the data in due course and are not refusing to do so.

The deadline for a withdrawal agreement to be signed is October/November, with other issues like data protection regulations, as well as the recognition of protected product names are also yet to be settled.

The chancellor today warned that there would likely be further austerity cuts in the event of a no-deal, while trade experts have warned of a massive hit to the British economy and queues of lorries at ports.