'We are not close to a deal': Ireland's deputy prime minister rubbishes Johnson 'spin' on Brexit progress being made

Ireland deputy prime minister has rubbished "spin" over Brexit progress and urged all sides to be honest that "we are not close to a deal right now".

Simon Coveney, the tanaiste, said the UK government's proposals to replace the Irish border backstop "don't stand up to scrutiny" and warned that his country must not be treated as "collateral" for Brexit.

His stern intervention comes amid tentative hopes of progress in the deadlocked Brexit talks, with European Commission boss Jean-Claude Juncker insisting a deal could be done - as he did not have an "erotic" attachment to the backstop.

Boris Johnson has said the UK is "making progress" in talks, as Steve Barclay, the Brexit secretary, was expected to discuss a series of draft ideas with Michel Barnier, his EU counterpart, when he travels to Brussels on Friday.

But Mr Coveney told the Today programme: "There is certainly a lot of commentary now - and some of it is spin I think - in the context of where we are. Certainly from an Irish perspective and I think from an EU perspective, we really want to get a deal.

"We want to get a deal a British prime minister can support but we are still waiting I think for serious proposals from the British government that can allow that to happen.

"That's why yesterday I said everybody needs a dose of reality here. There is still quite a wide gap between what the British government had been talking about in terms of the solutions they are proposing and what I think Ireland and the EU will be able to support."

The row centres on the divisive Irish backstop, which was included in Theresa May's Brexit deal to act as an insurance policy against a hard border on the island of Ireland.

Mr Johnson has vowed to strip the backstop from any deal, as Brexiters believe it keeps the UK too closely aligned to EU rules.

Mr Coveney said: "There are serious problems that arise because of the change in approach by the British Prime Minister - asking to remove a very significant section within the withdrawal agreement without any serious proposals as to how you solve those problems is not going to be the basis for an agreement.

"That's why I think there is an onus on the British government to come forward with alternative arrangements - if they have them - which can resolve the Irish border question."

He said Ireland is being asked to replace a "guarantee around that border question" with a promise that "somehow we'll do our best".

Mr Coveney added: "We want to find a solution, we want to get a deal, and we want to allow the UK to leave the EU in an orderly and sensible manner, but we cannot allow Ireland to be the collateral damage of that.

"I think for Britain to ask us to do that is a very unreasonable request, and it won't be the basis of a deal."

It comes after Mr Juncker insisted "we can have a deal" before the Halloween deadline, in a boost for the embattled prime minister.

The European Commission president said his meeting with Mr Johnson in Luxembourg on Monday was "rather positive" as he assured he was "doing everything to have a deal" to prevent a "catastrophic" no-deal Brexit.

Speaking to Sky News, Mr Juncker said "we can have a deal" but was unable to put the chances at more than 50/50 when pressed.

Mr Juncker said that he has no "emotional relationship" with the Irish backstop, which aims to prevent a hard border returning to the island of Ireland but has been a major sticking point to getting a deal through parliament.

"If the objectives are met - all of them - then we don't need the backstop," he added.

Downing Street had said the UK has shared a series of "confidential technical non-papers" with Brussels - as previously documents had been taken back at the end of meetings out of fears they would be leaked.

A "non-paper" is not a formal government position and falls far short of what has been demanded by Brussels.