Brexit: Johnson and Barnier begin no-deal blame game as UK insists ‘we’re not backing down’ on PM’s proposal

With days left to broker a Brexit deal and the UK outwardly refusing to alter its Northern Ireland proposals for Brussels, Boris Johnson and Michel Barnier have both made it clear who will be to blame for a no-deal Brexit if it happens – each other.

Boris Johnson said last night that the UK will leave the EU in 25 days despite legislation in the Commons. Writing in the Sun on Sunday, he said: “The only question is whether Brussels cheerily waves us off with a mutually agreeable deal, or whether we will be forced to head off on our own.”

He added: “We are leaving in 25 days. We can do it with a deal if the EU is willing. But they should be under no illusions or misapprehensions. There will be no more dither or delay. On 31 October we are going to get Brexit done.”

But EU officials have said the blame for a no-deal Brexit will lie with the prime minister as they set out a deadline of next Friday for a deal to be struck.

Mr Barnier, the bloc’s chief negotiator, said that even if the two sides could not come to an agreement, the future relationship between Britain and the continent would still need to be decided going into the future.

Speaking at an event organised by French newspaper Le Monde, Mr Barnier said: “These negotiations have been lose-lose since the beginning. We are ready for a no-deal, even if we do not want it.

He added: “No-deal will never be the choice of the EU – If that happens, it would be the choice of the United Kingdom. But agreement or not, this is not the end of the story. The whole future relationship with the UK remains to be defined.”

The tit-for-tat rhetoric came as Leo Varadkar, the Irish prime minister, said he still believed a deal could be struck. But he reiterated that the British plan as it stood was not enough to use as a base for “deeper negotiations”, echoing Brussels’ stance.

Mr Johnson had hoped to spend the weekend ramping up negotiations around his suggestions for a replacement to the Irish border backstop, but European diplomats snubbed the request amid concerns the plans fell short. Instead, they said, the UK could present new ideas next week.

However, the UK Brexit secretary has insisted that “we are not backing down” and the government would not set Northern Ireland “adrift” from the UK’s customs area. Stephen Barclay, writing in The Sunday Telegraph, added: “We don’t need more time. We need to deliver Brexit.”

Additional reporting by PA