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The prime minister's proposal demonstrates that he is not "serious about securing a deal", says the Liberal Democrats' Brexit spokesperson Tom Brake.

"I think what this proposal does is actually create two borders in Northern Ireland, rather than not having a border at all," he says.

"In those circumstances, first of all I think it'll be a hammer blow for the Northern Irish economy, and I also think it will not be in keeping with the Good Friday agreement, so I don't think it's going to get a good response from the Irish or indeed the European Union."

He adds: "If [Mr Johnson] thinks this is a fantastic deal and he is willing to put it to the people in a people's vote, then we will help him do that."

Asked if there will be a motion of confidence in the government, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn says there will be one “at a point when it can be carried in Parliament” and “at a point when we can force this government out of office” but that the priority was to take a no-deal Brexit off the table.

Mr Corbyn says he believes there should be the “shortest possible gap between the end of this Parliamentary session and the start of the new one” and that Parliament needs to be in session to prevent leaving without a deal.

Image source, Reuters

Jeremy Corbyn dismisses the government's proposals for an alternative to the Irish backstop as "worse than Theresa May's deal".

The Labour leader says Boris Johnson knows "full well that what he's put forward is unlikely to be agreed" and that "everything about his behaviour and his language" in recent weeks has been “about getting a no-deal Brexit”.

Mr Corbyn says he has particular concerns over deregulation and the proposals are "very unspecific" on how the Good Friday Agreement can be upheld.

The prime minister is expected to start making calls to EU leaders including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Irish PM Leo Varadkar and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.

The government is also expected to update MPs in the House of Commons on Thursday.

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Image source, UK Parliament

Boris Johnson's proposal is "made up of things that seem to contradict each other", says Westminster leader of Plaid Cymru Liz Saville Roberts.

"If it has been written in such a way as to make it likely to be refused by the EU, then it begs the question, really: is the prime minister just in the blame game now, and doing what he [wanted] to do all the way along?" she says.

"He will be very comfortable, it seems to me, at just sliding us towards a no-deal scenario at the end of this month now, and putting the blame on everybody else."

Image source, Reuters

The PM has set out details of his plan to replace the Irish border backstop in the current Brexit agreement.

Under his proposals, which he calls the "broad landing zone" for a new deal:

• Northern Ireland would leave the EU's customs union alongside the rest of the UK, at the end of the transition period in 2021

• However Northern Ireland would, with the consent of politicians at Stormont, continue to apply EU legislation relating to goods, including agrifoods
• This arrangement could in theory continue indefinitely, but the Northern Ireland Assembly's consent would have to be sought every four years in order for it to continue
• Customs checks on goods traded between the UK and EU would be "decentralised", with paperwork submitted electronically and only a "very small number" of physical checks
• These should take place away from the border itself, at business premises or at "other points in the supply chain", he suggests

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Image source, Reuters

The Institute for Government's Joe Owen says: "If you assume that the EU says 'yes' to the deal, then the government still needs to get a majority in Parliament.

"There were two groups who never came through for Theresa May when she put her deal forward - the Brexiteer wing of her party and the DUP - and Labour Leavers - people she was courting to construct a deal.

"Now we've heard tentative responses from the Brexiteer MPs that they may be more supportive.

"But the prime minister has also lost 21 of his own MPs - and those MPs, as well as Labour MPs, may prefer the softer deal offered by Theresa May

"It is not clear whether they would support this plan."

John Campbell
BBC News NI Economics and Business Editor

I think there is an enormous hurdle in terms of what is being said about new customs checks.

The Irish government keeps referring us back to what was said in December 2017 in the joint report when it agreed to no infrastructure, no related checks or controls on the border.

This unambiguously does mean new related checks and controls for cross-border trade.

The Irish government is either going to have to walk back or need a huge amount of persuading by the UK and other EU allies to accept these proposals.

I think it is going to be incredibly difficult.

In his letter to Jean-Claude Juncker, Boris Johnson says it is "entirely compatible" for Northern Ireland to leave the EU's customs union alongside the rest of the UK, and an open Irish border to be maintained.

Trade in goods between Northern Ireland and Ireland, he writes, makes up "little over 1%" of trade in goods between the UK and the EU overall.

He adds that this means it is "entirely reasonable" for the EU to manage this border differently to the way it does normally, and risks arising from his proposals will be "manageable".

Chris Morris
BBC Reality Check

One interesting thing is there has always been, from the beginning, [an assertion that there will be] no new border down the Irish Sea.

Then you look at this document and see it may not be division, but there will be significantly more checks on goods moving between Great Britain and Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom.

At the moment there are checks on, for example, live animals moving from Britain to Northern Ireland, but now there would be checks on pretty much everything.

The letter to Jean-Claude Juncker said that agri-food goods - so anything in the food chain - entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain would do so via a border inspection post, which is part of EU law. That can be a very intrusive form of inspection - the letter says that they will be subject to identity and documentary checks and physical examination.

But crucially, it says those checks will be carried out by UK authorities. So even though, in effect, that would become - at least for a few years - the border of the single market, it will be UK authorities, according to this proposal, that would carry out those checks even after the UK has left the EU.

Is the EU going to be happy with the UK saying "we're going to be the ones responsible for making sure your laws are carried out"? And obviously if there is an infringement of a law, where does that go in terms of a court if the UK has left the EU?

There are lots of details in here that the EU will pick up on and think: "this is not quite the way we think things should be going". But at least you can say that, after all this time, now there is a serious proposal on the table.

Image source, EPA

German Chancellor Angela Merkel says the EU 27 will look at Boris Johnson’s Brexit proposals "closely and evaluate them together".

"It is important that we stick together as 27," she said, adding "we trust Michel Barnier" - the EU's Brexit negotiator.

Mrs Merkel was speaking after talks with the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte in Berlin.

The Chancellor said that while they still hoped for an orderly Brexit, both their countries were prepared for a no deal.