Theresa May was in Grimsby today begging Brussels for concessions on the Irish border backstop and warned MPs who sink her deal there may be no Brexit at all if they do
Barnier’s Brexit ‘NON-offer’: DUP immediately slaps down EU negotiator as he TWEETS out proposal that would effectively carve off Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK after May begged bloc for ‘one last push
The DUP slapped down Michel Barnier’s apparent Brexit offer tonight warning it would effectively carve up the United Kingdom.
The Northern Ireland party – which props up Theresa May in No 10 – is a crucial power broker in Tuesday’s crunch vote on the deal.
It said Mr Barnier’s offer tonight that Britain could unilaterally exit only parts of the Irish border backstop failed to ‘respect’ the UK constitution because it would place a border down the Irish Sea.
+17
The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator outlined his position on Twitter. Mrs May needs to convince Brexiteers and Labour rebels to vote for her if she is to have any chance of winning on Tuesday night
+17
+17
Michel Barnier outlined his proposed concessions in a Twitter thread this afternoon after meeting with the 27 ambassadors to the EU
Britain has demanded a unilateral exit mechanism from the backstop – part of the divorce deal designed to guarantee there is never a hard border in Ireland – if trade negotiations fail to secure a long-term UK-EU deal.
What has Barnier offered on the backstop and what does it mean?
What is the Irish border backstop?
The backstop was invented to meet promises to keep open the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland even if there is no comprehensive UK-EU trade deal.
The divorce deal says it will kick in automatically at the end of the Brexit transition if that deal is not in place.
If effectively keeps the UK in a customs union with the EU and Northern Ireland in both the customs union and single market.
This means many EU laws will keep being imposed on the UK and there can be no new trade deals. It also means regulatory checks on some goods crossing the Irish Sea.
What do Brexiteers want?
Getting out of the backstop – even if there is a trade deal – can only happen if both sides agree people and goods can freely cross the border.
Brexiteers fear the EU will unreasonably demand the backstop continues so EU law continues to apply in Northern Ireland.
Northern Ireland MPs also hate the regulatory border in the Irish Sea, insisting it unreasonably carves up the United Kingdom.
They have demanded either a time limit or a unilateral exit mechanism.
What has Michel Barnier offered?
Barnier today said Britain could unilaterally quit the customs elements of the backstop – but not the rest.
It effectively means Northern Ireland will be held in the single market until the EU agrees a trade deal replaces it.
Will it work?
Probably not. The DUP has already rejected it and Whitehall sources said they were ‘unimpressed’.
The current backstop requires the whole UK to stay inside the EU customs union – meaning it cannot sign trade deals – with Northern Ireland also staying in parts of the single market.
Mr Barnier today said the EU was prepared to let the United Kingdom quit the customs part of the treaty without prior agreement from the bloc.
But he said Britain would have to accept the single market continuing to apply in Northern Ireland until both sides agree it is no longer necessary to keep an open border with the Republic.
Mr Barnier said he was also prepared to attach a letter signed by Jean-Claude Juncker and Donald Tusk in January to the legal text of the deal. The letter sets out promises the backstop is temporary but was rejected by MPs.
The proposal is essentially the Northern Ireland-only backstop rejected by Theresa May last year. She warned in September it could never be acceptable because it carves up the United Kingdom.
Mr Barnier’s apparent shift comes hours after Mrs May pleaded with the EU to give ‘one more push’ to break the impasse that has left talks stalled for months.
The Prime Minister was in Grimsby – a seat where 71 per cent of people voted to leave the EU – and warned those plotting to stop the UK leaving the EU: ‘Brexit does not belong to the MPs in Parliament – it belongs to the people of this country’.
Without a huge swing in her favour MailOnline research has revealed that her deal to leave the EU on March 29 will be defeated by almost 100 votes on Tuesday. The following day the Commons is expected to vote to stop Britain leaving without a deal.
In a direct plea to Tory Brexiteers and Labour rebels opposed to her deal the PM said today: ‘Back it and the UK will leave the European Union. Reject it and no one knows what will happen.
‘We may never leave at all. It would be a moment of crisis’.
She added: ‘Everybody wants to get it done. Let’s get it done’.
Mrs May also used her make-or-break speech to urge Brussels to give negotiations ‘one more push’ this weekend and get her deal over the line by giving her an end date to the Irish backstop to avoid wasting ‘more months arguing about Brexit’.
She is said to be willing to fly to Brussels this weekend and in direct message to the EU’s negotiators she said: ‘Now is the moment to act. We have worked hard together.
‘It needs just one more push to give Parliament what they have asked for’.
This afternoon Brussels’ chief negotiator Michel Barnier hit back: ‘The EU stands united. We are not interested in the blame game. We are still working’.
But he then tweeted: ‘Following the EU-UK statement of 20 Feb, the EU has proposed to the UK a legally binding interpretation of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement. Most importantly:
‘The arbitration panel can already, under Article 178 WA, give UK the right to a proportionate suspension of its obligations under the backstop, as a last resort, if EU breaches its best endeavours/good faith obligations to negotiate alternative solutions.
‘EU ready to give legal force to all commitments from January letter of Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker through joint interpretative statement. This will render best endeavour/good faith obligations even more actionable by an arbitration panel.
‘The EU commits to give UK the option to exit the Single Customs Territory unilaterally, while the other elements of the backstop must be maintained to avoid a hard border. UK will not be forced into customs union against its will.’
A DUP spokesman said: ‘The EU must respect the constitutional and economic integrity of the UK. This proposal does not.
‘It is no more acceptable to place a new border between NI and GB than it would be to put a new border between NI and RoI.’
Brexiteer Tory Paul Masterton said: ‘An exclusively NI backstop would be far more unacceptable, which is why securing a UK wide position was (for all its been slaughtered from various quarters) a ‘win’ in the current draft.’