France, Germany, Belgium, Poland, Denmark and the Netherlands have requested the details in a sign of impatience with Ireland. Tory leadership frontrunner Boris Johnson and his rival Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt have both refused to rule out a hard Brexit, which Theresa May spent three years trying to prevent. An EU diplomat with knowledge of the situation said the group of six states have turned to Ireland’s premier Leo Varadkar because the UK have refused to lay out no-deal planning. They told the Telegraph: “We need to know exactly what is going to happen in Ireland on day one of a no-deal Brexit if the British do nothing to help.” 

This week the Irish Central Bank warned that a no-deal Brexit could have “very severe and immediate disruptive effects” on the country’s economy, including the loss of up to 100,000 jobs. 

Mr Johnson and Mr Hunt have said they will work to change the backstop clause in the Withdrawal Agreement, but Brussels is standing firm on its refusal to reopen negotiations. 

Mr Varadkar last week admitted Dublin would be forced to implement a hard border in order to protect the EU if the UK crashed out of the bloc without an agreement. 

8.10am update: Boris Johnson says EU will broker new Brexit deal 

The bookies’ favourite to take the Tory crown has said he believes EU leaders would be willing to thrash out a new Brexit deal with the UK. 

In an interview with BBC News Boris Johnson said the political climate at home and in Europe has changed and therefore the bloc would be willing to reconsider the agreement. 

He said: “I think actually that politics has changed so much since 29 March,”

“I think on both sides of the Channel there’s a really different understanding of what is needed.” 

The EU has repeatedly said it will not reopen the Withdrawal Agreement. 

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