UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is in a stand-off with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar over the Brexit backstop amid a deterioration in Anglo-Irish relations.

Mr Johnson’s failure to speak to Mr Varadkar nearly a week after he took office is being viewed in Government and diplomatic circles as evidence of Britain trying to “up the ante” over the backstop that it wants removed from the Brexit deal.

In a further sign of the widening chasm between the UK and the EU, Mr Johnson’s spokeswoman signalled yesterday that he will refuse to meet EU leaders, including the Taoiseach, until they agree to ditch the backstop.

Mr Johnson later insisted: “I don’t want the UK to be aloof or hanging back. I want us to engage, to hold out the hand, to go the extra mile, the extra thousand miles.”

But he reiterated that “the present Withdrawal Agreement is dead, the backstop must go”.

Efforts were under way between officials in London and Dublin to organise a call between the two leaders last night, nearly a week after Mr Johnson took office. The delay in them speaking is unprecedented in recent times.

“There has been contact at official level and it’s expected that the Taoiseach and the PM will speak in the near future,” Mr Varadkar’s spokesman said.

A senior Irish Government figure believes this is “part of a new British strategy to be seen to up the ante on the backstop”.

A Government source acknowledged it was “out of the ordinary” that the pair had not spoken and a diplomatic source said this was not in keeping with practice.

“I think it speaks to the deterioration in the relationship between Ireland and the UK that has been allowed to slip over the last three years in particular,” said Fianna Fáil’s Brexit spokesperson Lisa Chambers.

However, another Government source cautioned it was “too early to draw conclusions” about the British strategy, insisting much would depend on Mr Varadkar meeting Mr Johnson face-to-face.

But Mr Johnson’s spokeswoman said he will not hold face-to-face meetings with EU leaders unless they agree to renegotiate the backstop.

“The EU has said up to now it is not willing to renegotiate [the backstop]… the prime minister would be happy to sit down with leaders when that position changes. But he is making it clear to everybody he speaks to that that needs to happen,” she said.

On a visit to Scotland, where he was booed by crowds ahead of a meeting with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, Mr Johnson said he was “reaching out” to Mr Varadkar.

However, his stance that the backstop must go puts him on a collision course with Ireland and the EU.

Europe Minister Helen McEntee said: “What we need to remind the prime minister and the UK government is that the majority of people in Northern Ireland have all come out in support of the backstop.

“The phonecall between the Taoiseach and the prime minister hasn’t happened yet, but he said very early on that he was looking forward to speaking and engaging with him,” she told RTÉ’s ‘Drivetime’.

She said there was always going to be some “tension”, “but our objective has always been… to protect the status quo on this island and that is what this backstop is for”.

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