Boris Johnson news: UK to pull officials from EU meetings as Merkel rules out PM’s backstop demands

The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have been ordered to make changes by the elections watchdog after being found to have broken election spending rules 

James Cleverly, the Conservative Party chairman, has refused to deny that the 'old' no-deal Brexit assessment leaked at the weekend was actually written less than three weeks ago

In a note circulated to diplomats from the EU27, officials describe points made by Boris Johnson in his letter to Donald Tusk on Monday evening as "misleading" and "incorrect", according to the Press Association.

The EU document takes issue with the PM's claims about the Good Friday Agreement and the Irish border.

The briefing note said the Withdrawal Agreement "fully respects the Good Friday (Belfast) Agreement, the constitutional status of Northern Ireland and the territorial integrity of the United Kingdom".

It was "incorrect to state that the people of Northern Ireland have no influence over the legislation that would apply to them" and the note highlights "specific governance arrangements" which could allow the UK and the people of Northern Ireland to express their views and to influence the shaping of the decisions.

The note continues: "The letter's suggestion that two separate legal, political, economic, and monetary jurisdictions already exist on the island and can be managed with an open border is misleading.

"EU law provides the common framework needed to enable frictionless trade between Member States today. Without this common framework, checks and controls become necessary to protect consumers' health, the integrity of the Single Market and Ireland's place in it."

With just 72 days remaining until the Brexit deadline, time is rapidly running out for MPs to stop Boris Johnson pushing through a no-deal withdrawal from the EU on 31 October. 

MPs are well aware of this: just last week they were warned there will be few opportunities for constitutional battles over a possible no-deal Brexit in the House of Commons when they return to SW1 from their summer recess on 3 September.

It is why, over the weekend, 100 of them opposed to leaving the EU without a deal wrote to Downing Street. They demanded the prime minister recall parliament immediately over the “national emergency” posed by such a departure. Jeremy Corbyn then backed the call on Monday, as did the shadow chancellor John McDonnell. 

Jeremy Corbyn has just given a brief clip to the BBC, claiming that stopping free movement on the day after Brexit could be a scandal like "Windrush on steroids".

Speaking at the Business and Technology Centre in Stevenage, Mr Corbyn said: "Priti Patel has announced that freedom of movement here in every form will end on October 31. It is an utterly ludicrous position she has adopted.

"Does that mean that a European Union national living in this country, possibly as a doctor, a nurse, a trauma surgeon, all kinds of things, goes home to see their family in Germany or Czech Republic or wherever else, they are not allowed back into this country? Is this another Windrush, on steroids? It is a ludicrous proposal.

"We rely on a lot of European nationals to maintain our industries, maintain our education services."

He added: "I'd just say to Priti Patel, cut the nonsense, and don't impose this again."

London mayor Sadiq Khan has also written to the home secretary, urging the government to drop what he described as "cruel" and "brutal" plans.

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Responding to Donald Tusk, a Downing Street spokesperson has just said: "“We are deeply invested in the peace, prosperity and security of Northern Ireland and always will be and we have been clear that we will never place infrastructure, checks, or controls at the border.

“But it is clear that unless the Withdrawal Agreement is reopened and the backstop abolished there is no prospect of a deal.  It has already been rejected three times by MPs and is simply unviable as a solution, as the PM’s letter makes clear. 

 “We are ready to negotiate, in good faith, an alternative to the backstop, with provisions to ensure that the Irish border issues are dealt with where they should always have been: in the negotiations on the future agreement between the UK and the EU.”

Jeremy Corbyn has called on Boris Johnson to scrap the 31 October Brexit deadline and instead ask the EU for a further extension.

It comes after leaked "Operation Yellowhammer" assessments warned of potential chaos if the UK leaves the bloc without a deal.

Mr Corbyn said:

"It isn't an outside force that is causing the problem, it is the government itself that is creating the problem in the first place.

"Yellowhammer shows exactly what will happen. There are already difficulties over medicine supplies in this country.

"There [is[ already lots of uncertainty about businesses, trade, investment, exports, jobs, and so on, all created by this arbitrary day of 31 October.

"I would have thought the prime minister should have been more sensitive and say we'll withdraw the 31 October, we'll discuss an extension with the European Union, and then see where we go from there."

BREAKING: UK officials will stop attending EU meetings from 1 September, the government has announced. 

Ministers and other government officials will only take part in meetings where matters strongly relating to the UK, such as security co-operation, are being discussed, the Brexit department said.

The government said this would "free up time" for Brexit planning.

Steve Barclay, the Brexit secretary, said:

“An incredible amount of time and effort goes into EU meetings with attendance just the tip of the iceberg. Our diligent, world-class officials also spend many hours preparing for them whether in reading the necessary papers or working on briefings.

“From now on we will only go to the meetings that really matter, reducing attendance by over half and saving hundreds of hours. This will free up time for ministers and their officials to get on with preparing for our departure on 31 October and seizing the opportunities that lie ahead.”

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Opinion: Boris Johnson will be the Alexis Tsipras of 2019, writes Thimios Tzallas

Speaking in Iceland, Angela Merkel has just said the EU will look at "practical solutions" to replace the Northern Ireland backstop but that this must be part of discussions on the future UK-EU relationship, rather than an amendment to the Withdrawal Amendment.

The German chancellor said the EU would remain united in its position on Brexit and that the UK must decide whether to accept the Withdrawal Agreement or leave without a deal.

We'll bring you the full quotes as soon as we have them.