TheEconomistOctober 5th 2019 491F
orweeksthe European Union has com-
plained that, even as the October 31st
deadline for Britain to leave drew nearer,
Boris Johnson’s new government was fail-
ing to offer clear proposals to amend The-
resa May’s failed Brexit deal. All Mr John-
son 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. This week,
after a tub-thumping party conference
speech in Manchester under the slogan
“Get Brexit done”, Mr Johnson at last put
forward his plan. Yet despite his labelling it
a “fair and reasonable compromise”, it got a
cool reception from the eu, which sees it as
a breach of promises, not the basis for a
new deal.
As expected, Mr Johnson’s proposal
would keep Northern Ireland under the
eu’s agri-food regulatory regime. He now
wants to expand this to cover manufac-
tured goods as well. But Great Britain
would opt out of the rules, implying checks
on goods moving between Northern Ire-
land and the mainland. And the plan wouldapply for only four years after the transi-
tion period ends in 2021, at which point the
Northern Irish Assembly would decide
whether to remain aligned with the euor
adopt British rules. Meanwhile, the whole
ukwould leave the customs union. This
implies customs checks between Northern
Ireland and the south—though Mr Johnson
insists these could be automated and,
when necessary, conducted away from the
border. He also wants Northern Ireland out
of the eu’s value-added-tax regime.
The plan was welcomed by Tory Brexi-
teers and, more importantly, by the North-
ern Irish Democratic Unionist Party, which
supports the Tories in Parliament. Yet it has
little appeal in Brussels or, critically, Dub-
lin. eugovernments see it as a big step back
from undertakings given by Mrs May in De-
cember 2017 to maintain an open, friction-
less border in Ireland, preserve the all-is-
land economy and avoid new customs or
border controls anywhere on the island.
They are unhappy about the proposed uni-
lateral four-year time limit. And they do
not believe that promises to use new tech-nology, exemptions for small businesses
and a system of trusted traders would be
enough to avoid physical controls at or
near the border.
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 had not said it was his final, “take it
or leave it” offer, as initial reports had sug-
gested. 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 the
signals from Downing Street suggest that
the prime minister sees little scope for
more compromise on his side.
His sales pitch to the euahead of the
crucial European Council summit on Octo-
ber 17th-18th rests on two arguments. The
first is that only a deal close to his can ever
pass in Parliament. For evidence, he cites
the Brady amendment, a version of Mrs
May’s Brexit deal minus the backstop,
whichmps voted for in January. The second
is that, if the euis unwilling to accept hisBritain’s new Brexit planAn offer they can refuse
MANCHESTER
The prime minister’s long-awaited Brexit proposal seems unlikely to produce a
deal. Another extension beckonsBritain
50 HarryandMeghanv thetabloids
51 Bagehot: Richard Milhous JohnsonAlso in this sectionSeveral MPs are speaking about their
vision for Britain at our Open Future
Festival in Manchester on October 5th.
Watch the livestream at
Economist.com/openfuturelive