Boris Johnson news – live: Tusk accuses PM of 'stupid blame game', after disastrous Merkel call leaves Brexit talks on brink of collapse
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Your support makes all the difference.Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal appears on the verge of collapse after German chancellor Angela Merkel told him over the phone this morning than an agreement is “overwhelmingly unlikely”, according to Downing Street.
Asked if talks with the EU were close to breaking down, a No 10 source told The Independent: “That is what the prime minister told Merkel. They aren’t negotiating or engaging in Brussels.”
A No 10 source has also claimed there were ways to “scupper” the Brexit delay required by the Benn Act. Amber Rudd said Downing Street sounds “angry and desperate”, while EU Council president Donald Tusk accused the prime minister of playing a “stupid blame game”.
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More on Angela Merkel’s phone call with Boris Johnson this morning.
Asked if the Brexit talks were close to collapse, a No 10 source told The Independent: “That is what the prime minister told Merkel. They aren’t negotiating or engaging in Brussels.”
More details here.
Some reaction to that No 10 statement about the call with Angela Merkel.
Labour’s shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer has called it an effort to “sabotage” negotiations.
“This is yet another cynical attempt by Number 10 to sabotage the negotiations,” he said. “Boris Johnson will never take responsibility for his own failure to put forward a credible deal. His strategy from day one has been for a no deal Brexit.”
Brexit party leader Nigel Farage has responded: “The EU were never going to negotiate in good faith. We simply have to leave with a clean break.”
DUP leader Arlene Foster, meanwhile, said: “The PM’s proposals have flushed out Dublin's real intentions Northern Ireland in the EU customs union forever.
“We will not accept any such ultimatum or outcome.”
As many are pointing out, we’re yet to hear Angela Merkel’s side of the story – the German chancellor’s office will no doubt produce a “read out” of her call with Boris Johnson later.
More on the remarks by DUP leader Arlene Foster – who was present for Angela Merkel’s phone call with Boris Johnson, but is choosing to accept the No 10’s interpretation of what was said.
A No 10 source said Merkel wants Northern Ireland staying in “full alignment forever” in a customs union.
Foster said the idea of was “beyond crazy”.
She said: “For the United Kingdom to be asked to leave a part of its sovereign territory in a foreign organisation of which the UK would no longer be a part and over which we would have no say whatsoever is beyond crazy. No UK government could ever concede such a surrender.
“The EU is not interested in a negotiated outcome at this time. Their position is the UK can only leave with a deal if it agrees a binding piece of international law permanently tying either the whole country or a part of it to the EU’s legal order over which it has no control.
“The true purpose of the ‘backstop’ is now in the open for all to see. Those who eagerly supported the backstop as the best of both worlds can now see the error of that assessment. It was neither temporary nor an insurance policy.
“It appears that Martin Selmayr’s remarks about Northern Ireland being the price of Brexit is still the EU negotiating stance.
“The prime minister’s proposals have flushed out Dublin’s real intentions to trap Northern Ireland in the EU Customs Union forever, where Dublin rather than the United Kingdom’s elected representatives would be in the driving seat. We will not accept any such ultimatum or outcome.”
Wow. EU Council president Donald Tusk has accused Boris Johnson of a “stupid blame game”.
The government has just released a 155-page no-deal Brexit readiness report. You can take a look at it here.
Just to calm things down, Boris Johnson has made some remarks about Brussels at the beginning of the report. The prime minister says many people were concerned about the “corrosive impact” of the EU on our “democratic institutions”.
He also says he remains “determined to deliver [Brexit] by the end of the month … if we are going to restore faith in our institutions, we must make sure that Britain leaves the EU on 31 October.”
As our Europe correspondent Jon Stone and others are pointing out, EU officials appear a bit bewildered by No 10’s claims about Boris Johnson’s call with Angela Merkel.
Northern Ireland secretary Julian Smith is not happy – making reference to the combative remarks made by a No 10 source to The Spectator.
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