Brandon Lewis, the Minister of State for Security told BBC Two’s Newsnight that the Government had reached its final offer on a Brexit deal. He admitted that the Government is still set on removing the UK from the EU on October 31 “come what may”.

Mr Lewis said: “The offer that the Prime minister will make is the offer he’s going to put to the European union.

“We’ll publish it tomorrow, but I’m not going to comment any further on it until its actually published tomorrow – I think it would be wrong to do that.

“But, that is our final offer because we have to be very clear that the British public and our partners, who we’re negotiating with, want to have some clarity around the fact that this is our final offer.

“We want to leave with a deal, we think this is a fair deal, but if not, we will leave on October 31 come what may.”

The comments follow Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s admission to the BBC’s Today Programme that the new deal set to be put to the EU has significant room for negotiation.

The deal sprung from Mr Johnson’s movement on the matter of a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

The Irish “backstop” has come to be seen as central to any Brexit negotiations.

Mr Johnson said the “reality” of Brexit is there will need to be customs checks in Ireland after the UK leaves the EU.

JUST IN: Revealed: Boris Johnson’s bold Brexit vision

However, the Prime Minister ruled out claims that checks would create a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic.

The BBC’s Nick Robinson quizzed Mr Johnson on the matter of a hard border and potential customs checks as close to five miles back from the existing border.

Mr Johnson said: “There’s very good reasons why customs checks wouldn’t be a good idea and everyone familiar with the situation in Ireland and Northern Ireland can understand why for practical reasons and reasons of sentiment.”

When asked how he would get around any border at all, Mr Johnson said it was the “reality” that there would have to be some sort of border for customs checks rather than no border at all, as suggested by Sinn Féin, a left-wing political party in Ireland.

DON’T MISS

Brexit breakthrough as stubborn EU finally cave on backstop
Boris braces for Brexit sabotage as Remainer MPs plot emergency vote
Tories shaking liberal establishment to the core, says PATRICK O’FLYNN

The Prime Minister said: “What we’re coming up to now is the critical moment of choice for us as friends and partners about how we proceed.

“In the end, a sovereign united country must have a single customs territory.

“When the UK withdraws from the EU that must be the state of affairs that we have.

“But, there are plenty of ways we can facilitate north-south trade, plenty of ways we can talk about the problem.

“And, without going into the deals of the proposals, there are ways in which we can protect the unity of the market in the whole of the island of Ireland.”

Mr Johnson’s comments are among a flurry of suggestions from the Government that the UK is well on its way to sparking a deal with the EU.

On Tuesday, Brexit Minister, James Duddrigde, told MPs in the Commons that the Government would “set out more detail on an alternative to the backstop in the coming days”.

He also said he wanted to “assure the House there will be no infrastructure checks or controls at the border”.

Ireland’s historical and political history is the reason for the backstop being considered as contentious.

Religious and political tensions were quelled when the Good Friday Agreement was signed in 1998 after decades of conflict between the north and south.

The agreement saw Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland putting their differences aside and strike negotiations on things like farming and health.

The intricate nature of the agreement has led many to fear that a hard border could agitate an already delicate relationship.

Source: Read Full Article