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The UK will offer Brussels a revised Brexit deal by the end of the week as the Prime Minister ramps up efforts to strike an agreement. It is understood the legal text of a Brexit plan will be sent to Brussels after the Tory conference concludes on Wednesday. This comes as Irish broadcaster RTE reported the UK had proposed the idea of custom clearance centres being set up five to ten miles either side of the Irish border.
But this plan was quickly dismissed by Irish deputy premier Simon Coveney.
He said Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland “deserves better.”
He tweeted: “Non-Paper = Non-Starter. Time the EU had a serious proposal from the UK Govt if a £Brexit deal is to be achievable in October. NI and IRE deserves better!”
Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer also tweeted: “If Boris Johnson had spent any time listening to businesses and communities in Northern Ireland, he would know that these proposals are utterly unworkable.”
The comments came after Mr Johnson said he remained “cautiously optimistic” about the prospect of a deal despite the limited time available ahead of the scheduled October 31 withdrawal date.
He said the UK side had made some “pretty big moves” towards a deal but it was up to Brussels to respond to find the right “landing zone”.
He said: “I’m cautiously optimistic. We have made some pretty big moves, we are waiting to see whether our European friends will help us and whether we can find the right landing zone.
“But whatever happens, we’ll come out on October 31.”
9.09am update: Boris still plans to suspend parliament to launch new agenda
The Prime Minister said on Tuesday he was still planning to suspend parliament in order to launch a new legislative agenda, but would make sure that he did so in line with a recent Supreme Court ruling.
Meanwhile, he added he was still a “generous-hearted” person, despite the pressure of Brexit.
He told the BBC: “All those who wish to see, as it were, a return of the old, generous-hearted, loving, caring Mayor of London, that person has not gone away.
“But we are in a position where the only way … we can unite our country again is to get Brexit done.”
Mr Johnson has been criticised, including by his own sister Rachel, for the language he has used while debating Brexit in parliament and elsewhere.
8.40am update: What is on the agenda for day three of the conference?
Here is what will take place during the Conference Party Conference today:
10am – Session on forging stronger communities with Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen and West Midlands mayor Andy Street
10.45a, – House of Cards creator Lord Dobbs in conversation with Iain Dale
11.15am – A session on the difference the Conservative Party makes to communities
2pm – A presentation on how Conservative policies have helped deliver social change
2.45pm – Speech by London mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey
3pm – Session on toughening up the criminal justice system with Justice Secretary Robert Buckland, and Prisons Minister Lucy Frazer
3.45pm – Speech by Home Secretary Priti Patel
8.22am update: Boris says backstop proposals are not correct
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the leaked Irish border backstop proposals were not correct during an interview with the BBC.
He said: “That is not what we are proposing at all.
He said it was “absolutely not” true that he wanted to simply move border checks away from the physical border.
“There are very good reasons why that would not be a good idea… both for practical reasons and reasons of sentiment that we totally understand.”
But he said it was a “reality” that some checks would be needed to create a “single customs territory” for the UK once it leaves the EU.
7.46am update: Sin Fein call plans to change backstop a return to hard border
Sin Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said the leaked proposals to change the backstop put forward by the UK over Brexit were “essentially” a return to a hard border in Ireland.
When she was asked whether she could back such draft plans, she said: “Absolutely not.”
She said: “What has been described in this document is essentially a hard border on the island of Ireland.
“Anything that causes there to be customs, tariffs, checks anywhere represents a hardening of the border.”
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Ms McDonald said the UK’s backstop changes amounted to a “sabotage” of the peace process in Northern Ireland.
Ms McDonald added: ”We have explained this (the importance of no border checks) in painstaking detail to Mrs May in her time and now Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
“Privately both always said that they understood that and therefore it is all the more disgraceful that they would try and sabotage the peaceful dispensation on our island.
“Boris Johnson voted for the backstop because in a moment of perhaps rare lucidity he recognised that was the bottom line to protect the island of Ireland. I only hope he returns to that position.”
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