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Last stop for backstop talks as EU demands big changes

© Stefan Rousseau/Getty ImagesPrime Minister Boris Johnson exits the hall with his girlfriend Carrie Symonds following his keynote speech on day four of the 2019 Conservative Party Conference at Manchester Central on October 2, 2019 in Manchester, England.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson exits the hall with his girlfriend Carrie Symonds following his keynote speech on day four of the 2019 Conservative Party Conference at Manchester Central on October 2, 2019 in Manchester, England.

Boris Johnson is working on his proposal for a Brexit deal and is expected to lay out a new version for EU leaders tomorrow.

British civil servants are working on “clarifying” his plans to replace the Irish backstop over the weekend after talks between the UK and EU were cancelled.

The European Commission yesterday said EU member states had agreed his first set of proposals “do not provide a basis for concluding an agreement”.

A spokesperson said the UK would be given “another opportunity to present its proposals in detail” tomorrow.

The EU is said to be concerned Britain wants to leave too many details about customs checks to be agreed during the post-Brexit transition period.

The Prime Minister’s controversial special adviser Dominic Cummings said yesterday that this week “we are going to know how things turn out before insisting, if there is no agreement, we are gone”.

He added: “If the EU says no then we are not going to do what the last lot did and change our negotiating position.”

Johnson insisted on Friday that he would not delay Brexit – despite his lawyers saying he will comply with a law calling for the October 31 exit date to be postponed if there is no deal.

At the Court of Session in Edinburgh on Friday, papers were read out in which he accepted he must send a letter requesting a Brexit delay if there is no deal in place by October 19.

But later on Friday he wrote on Twitter: “New deal or no deal – but no delay.”

Johnson said previously said he would “rather be dead in a ditch” than ask for another delay to Brexit.

The Irish backstop, which was agreed between Theresa May’s government and the EU, is designed to avoid a hard border by keeping the UK in a customs union.

Johnson’s plan would see Northern Ireland leaving the EU’s customs union alongside the rest of the UK but continue to abide by EU regulations on agricultural products.

Meanwhile, it was reported yesterday Johnson hopes Hungary will veto a Brexit extension. Government ministers are said to have asked the Hungarian government for assurances it would veto any request for a delay.

An Article 50 extension must be agreed by all 27 other EU leaders.