Rattled Irish deputy PM claims the EU will NEVER let the UK drop the hated backstop from Brexit deal – but ministers accuse him of BLUFFING insisting Dublin is terrified of creating a hard border

Irish deputy PM Simon Coveney upped the stakes in the bitter Brexit battle today by warning that the EU will never allow the backstop to be ditched.

Mr Coveney said even if member states agreed to abandon the mechanism for guaranteeing there will not be a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic, MEPs would veto it.

But Health Secretary Matt Hancock accused him of negotiating tactics – pointing out that a no deal outcome would be the biggest risk of creating a hard border.

The clashes came as Theresa May faces another gruelling week as she tries to keep her Cabinet together and fend off a bid by cross-party Remainers to force her to delay Brexit. 

If the plan, pushed by Labour’s Yvette Cooper, is passed by MPs on Tuesday it would pave the way for law ordering a nine-month extension to be considered on February 5.   

Amendments are also tabled intended to rule out a no-deal Brexit, and stage a series of ‘indicative’ votes to work out what approach would gain a majority in the Commons. 

The government seems to be pinning its hope on changes tabled by senior Tories including 1922 committee chairman Sir Graham Brady and ex-minister Andrew Murrison that would demand a rewriting of the controversial Irish border backstop – something Mrs May could take to Brussels as concrete evidence of the will of MPs. 

Mr Hancock said today he was sympathetic to the way Tories were searching for solutions – although he declined to say whether he supported the amendment. 

Ministers are increasingly hopeful that there could be movement as splits emerge between Dublin and EU leaders over whether there would need to be a hard border if the UK crashes out. 

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