The EU Parliament’s Brexit co-ordinator accused the Government of “repackaging the bad ideas that have already been floated”. He called into question whether the bloc would be able to enter into negotiations with Mr Johnson in good faith after Tory MP were ordered to blame the EU if talks failed. In the first signs of resistance from Brussels, Mr Verhofstadt said: “The question is not if you want to compromise – we have made a compromise, that was the withdrawal agreement.

“The question is: is this a serious compromise? And we have serious doubts about that, certainly after the leak of a paper, a document, by Downing Street to the Tory MPs to blame the European Union directly… If there is a Tory document saying that they have to blame the European Union then it’s obvious that that is the purpose.

“The backstop is in fact a safeguard that is a type of insurance that you never hope to use. That’s a backstop. And this is quite the opposite, what is proposed. It’s temporary, so it’s not for a long period.

“It’s depending on the consent of an assembly in Northern Ireland that, for three years, has not been seated, was never in place. And there are serious doubts that it will be in place in the coming years. So if their consent cannot be given then there is no backstop.”

Asked whether he would recommend MEPs to support the Prime Minister’s plans, Mr Verhofstadt added: “On this element it’s very difficult – and nearly impossible. Because it’s mainly repackaging the bad ideas that have already been floated in the past.”

The senior MEP’s influential Brexit Steering Group have expressed their “grave concerns” with the “last-minute” strategy.

The committee warns that the EU Parliament must give rubber-stamp any future Brexit deal, adding: “The proposals do not address the real issues that need to be resolved if the backstop were to be removed, namely the all – island economy, the full respect of the Good Friday Agreement and the integrity of the single market.”

“The European Parliament remains open to explore all proposals, but these need to be credible, legally operable, and in practise have the same effect as the compromises found in the withdrawal agreement,” their statement reads.

Meanwhile, Ireland’s deputy prime minister Simon Coveneny said he believes Mr Johnson is serious about achieving a deal.  

But he warned both sides would have to continue negotiating to reach an acceptable outcome.

Mr Coveney said: “My judgement is that Boris Johnson does want a deal, and the paper published yesterday was an effort to move us in the direction of a deal… But I agree that if that is the final proposal, there would be no deal.”

He added: “We cannot support any proposal that suggests one party, or indeed a minority, in Northern Ireland could make the decisions for the majority in terms of how these proposals would be implemented in the future.

“That wouldn’t be consistent with the Good Friday Agreement, not something we could possibly support.”

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