British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has accepted an offer to meet Irish leader Leo Varadkar to discuss Brexit and the Northern Irish backstop, the Sunday Telegraph said citing UK government sources.
“The UK has accepted Varadkar’s offer to meet and dates are being discussed,” a UK source told the newspaper.
MAY’S AGREEMENT HAD REJECTED THREE TIMES
Johnson has told the European Union there is no point in new talks on a withdrawal agreement unless negotiators are willing to drop the Northern Irish backstop agreed by his predecessor Theresa May.
The EU has said it is not prepared to reopen the divorce deal it agreed with May, which includes the backstop, an insurance policy to prevent the return to a hard border between the British province of Northern Ireland and EU-member Ireland.
May’s agreement, rejected three times by the British parliament, says the United Kingdom will remain in a customs union “unless and until” alternative arrangements are found to avoid a hard border.
