Boris Johnson's plan was welcomed by Tory Brexiteers and the DUP. But it has little appeal in Brussels—or Dublin
FOR WEEKS the European Union has complained that, even as the October 31st deadline for Britain to leave drew nearer, Boris Johnson’s new government was failing to offer clear proposals to amend Theresa May’s failed Brexit deal. All Mr Johnson would say was that the hated backstop, an arrangement to avert a hard border in Ireland by keeping the United Kingdom in a customs union, had to go.
British ministers were out in force this week selling the new plan as what one called a “landing zone” that could satisfy all sides. Mr Johnson suggested that, just as he had compromised, so it was now the EU’s turn. Some in Brussels were relieved that he did not say it was his final, “take it or leave it” offer, as initial reports had suggested. A few even hoped it might be tweaked to include alignment on customs as well as on regulations, or to revert to a Northern Ireland-only backstop.
Yet in Brussels neither argument seems convincing. The EU knows that Mr Johnson has no parliamentary majority. He cannot rely even on his own Tory MPs, since some of the more extreme hardliners prefer no-deal to anything else. This means he needs significant Labour backing to pass any deal. And although some Labour MPs share the Tories’ desire to “get Brexit done”, and many are nervous about no-deal, few are prepared to rescue a prime minister whom they mistrust as a populist popinjay.
Yet one of the act’s authors, Dominic Grieve, a former Tory attorney-general, insists its drafting is legally watertight. He characterises the suggested tricks to try to get round it as “far-fetched and reputationally catastrophic”. He and his supporters, who have a majority in Parliament, are ready to legislate again if need be. They would go to court at the slightest hint that Mr Johnson might flout their law.
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