Reality Check

Image source, AFP/ Getty Images

Boris Johnson has outlined his plan to the European Union , externalto avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland after Brexit.

Mr Johnson says the plan "removes the so-called backstop".

The backstop is the insurance policy negotiated by Theresa May and the EU. It is designed to avoid any physical border infrastructure, which it is feared would bring back memories of the Troubles, after Brexit.

It would keep the UK in the same customs territory as the EU,and Northern Ireland closely tied to EU regulations until the UK and the EU reach a trade deal.

But it would also stop the UK striking its own trade deals, which is why so many Conservative MPs, including Mr Johnson, oppose the backstop.

So, what is his alternative?

Image source, Getty Images

Boris Johnson's border proposal is "fair and reasonable" but No.10 must lay out other areas of the withdrawal agreement, says Steve Baker, chair of the European Research Group.

"The prime minister has made a great and very significant move here in saying we'll have a free trade agreement as the destination... We said we wanted to chuck Chequers, at last we have chucked Chequers," he says.

"This package deals with the Northern Ireland backstop and on that point it's very good. But we do need to see the future destination in full, because there are many people out there very concerned about defence and security provisions in the current political declaration, that needs to be addressed."

Image source, Reuters

Cabinet minister Michael Gove said the government's latest Brexit proposals were "serious" and warned the EU that the "clock is ticking".

Mr Gove who is the minister responsible for no-deal preparation, said he was convinced the proposals provided "an opportunity for us to talk seriously to the EU and to find a way forward".

He added: "It will be for individual nations and the Commission to respond as appropriate, but I would hope they would recognise - in [EU Chief Brexit Negotiator] Michel Barnier's own phrase - that the 'clock is ticking'.

"These are serious proposals, they honour the Brexit referendum, they also underpin peace in Ireland and they respect the EU's own interests as well."

BBC News Channel

Former Foreign Secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind says EU agreement to the plan "will crucially depend on the response of the Irish government".

"The EU will find it difficult to budge unless Dublin budges," he says.

"Dublin ought to move," he adds, saying: "If we did end up with a no-deal Brexit, we would end up with a hard border now instead of in three years."

Katya Adler
Europe Editor

Don’t expect the EU to rush to reject the prime minister’s proposals even though there are elements that clearly contravene EU red lines, such as the implementation of any kind of customs procedures between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

EU Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker spoke today of “concerns” arising from the text but EU leaders won’t want to be seen to be the ones closing the door to a deal. Throughout the Brexit process they’ve repeatedly kicked the ball back into the UK government’s court.

On cue, leaders are “welcoming the delivery of the proposals from the government” and inviting the prime minister to continue negotiations. The fundamental questions for the EU remain: How much does the prime minister really want a deal? Is he willing to move from his take-it-or-leave-it position? If he is, there will be something to talk about. If not, the EU will try its best to avoid being the ones to say, “Forget it.”

But Mr Johnson should think again if he imagines his proposals – which do include concessions from his side – will prompt EU countries with a lot to lose in a no-deal Brexit (like Germany) to try to force Ireland to accept his offer. Angela Merkel today insisted EU leaders would stick together over the Johnson proposals. With such an important EU member leaving, Mrs Merkel believes unity amongst those left behind is paramount.

The European Commission says meetings between the EU and UK negotiation teams will take place in Brussels over the coming days.

The European Commission's chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, and his team will update the European Parliament and the Council on Wednesday evening.

President Juncker will also speak to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and "will listen carefully to his views", the Commission says.

Chris Mason
Political Correspondent

It's worth taking a step back amid all of this detail to remind ourselves of how this tangle around the Northern Irish border has emerged.

Crucially, it is written down in the Good Friday Agreement that it should remain open. So how do you keep it open whilst respecting the fact that the UK is going to go its own way after Brexit?

Plan 1 was that Northern Ireland remains close to the EU, while the rest of the UK goes its own way - the Northern Ireland-only backstop, as it was known. It was politically unpalatable to Theresa May's government because it divided up the UK.

Plan 2 was a UK-wide backstop - unpalatable to so many in Parliament because it bound the UK far too close, in the view of some, to the EU.

So here comes plan 3 from Boris Johnson's government: a letter talking about a "fair and reasonable compromise". It is relatively complicated, though: Northern Ireland staying in the single market for goods within the EU, subject to regulation by the EU but with the plan that the Northern Ireland Assembly and Stormont would have a say in that, which would be renewed every few years. There would be some checks between Great Britain and Northern Ireland as well.

So it's an attempt to try and find a space between the two already rejected proposals.

Boris Johnson tells his Party Conference "the whole lot of us would've been voted out of the jungle."

Sky News

Speaking on Sky News, DUP leader Arlene Foster says the PM's plans are "a sensible way forward and it is a serious way forward".

"It gives the people of Northern Ireland a role," she adds.

The European Commission's statement also expresses "concern" about the customs rules.

It says President Juncker "stressed that we must have a legally operational solution that meets all the objectives of the backstop: preventing a hard border, preserving North-South cooperation and the all-island economy, and protecting the EU's single market and Ireland's place in it."

Image source, AFP/ Getty Images

Boris Johnson has been speaking to European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on the phone.

The Commission has released a statement saying Mr Juncker welcomes the prime minister's "determination to... make progress towards a deal".

It says the president acknowledges the "positive advances, notably with regards to the full regulatory alignment for all goods and the control of goods entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain".

However, the statement also says there are "still some problematic points that will need further work in the coming days, notably with regards to the governance of the backstop".

"The delicate balance struck by the Good Friday Agreement must be preserved," it says.

The prime minister says the SNP want to hand power to Jeremy Corbyn in exchange for an independence ballot.

"This is a fantasy deal, full of contradictions, from an utterly desperate prime minister," says Westminster leader of Plaid Cymru Liz Saville Roberts.

"If he had a shred of responsibility, he would take this whole question back to the people in a referendum, giving people the final say on our place in Europe," she says.

Boris Johnson's letter to President Juncker mentioned a "New Deal for Northern Ireland" to help with "infrastructure projects, particularly with a cross-border focus".

A government official said: "I think support for Northern Ireland is up for discussion but what that's talking about is putting in place support as Northern Ireland transitions into a post-Brexit world."

"I wouldn't dispute that support is likely to have financial implications but I think the focus is to provide support to Northern Ireland as we move forward outside the EU."

Damian Grammaticas
Europe correspondent

The problem I think you can see immediately for the EU side is what's in these documents breaches the EU's own red lines in the negotiations, and it's shown no sign of wanting to cross those red lines at any point up to this stage.

So what are those? Absolutely central to that idea is no checks on the island of Ireland. Essentially the UK side is saying there would need to be customs checks, but they're asking the EU to promise not to do that at their frontier. The EU has always said it will protect its single market and check what's coming in.

But equally, the EU will say these ideas of electronics and distributed centres, that's still infrastructure, that's still a huge imposition on business, that is still, crucially, for Ireland, something that undermines the Good Friday Agreement, the peace process, the status quo on the island of Ireland, the free exchanges back and forth.

The third thing is the time limit. Four years and this would have to renewed by Northern Ireland with an effective veto in Northern Ireland. The Republic of Ireland has always said a time limit would not be acceptable.