Boris Johnson has faced unified anger over his “catastrophic” Brexit policy as he met politicians at Stormont on the third day of his UK tour.
The new PM was also criticised for "wining and dining" the Democratic Unionist Party – whose MPs propped up Theresa May’s government – ahead of talks aimed at restoring powersharing in Northern Ireland.
Amid growing speculation over the prospect of an early general election, Mr Johnson was warned the Tories could be “annihilated” at the polls unless the UK leaves the EU by Halloween.
Elsewhere, video footage emerged of Mr Johnson’s top aide, Dominic Cummings, claiming that Tory MPs do not care about poorer people.
This live article has now ended. Recap how we covered developments as they happened below:
Welcome to The Independent's politics liveblog, where we will be bringing you all the latest updates throughout the day.
Here is our front page today, where our main story looks at Boris Johnson's clash with Irish premier Leo Varadkar over his Brexit demands.
Boris Johnson is in Northern Ireland today, where he is holding talks with the main political parties this morning.
He arrived at Stormont House at around 8.15am, and was greeted outside by Northern Ireland secretary Julian Smith.
After a private lunch with Boris Johnson last night, Arlene Foster, the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), said the confidence and supply agreement continues - and will be reviewed at the end of this parliamentary session.
But speaking to BBC Breakfast, the DUP leader said conversations last night with the new PM centred on Brexit and restoring the Northern Ireland executive at Stormont that collapsed in January 2017.
Ms Foster also lashed out a the European Union, telling Brussels and Dublin to "dial back on the rhetoric" - before, of course, accusing them of being "very belligerent" and attempting to break up the United Kingdom.
She told the BBC: "Like the prime minister, I want to leave the EU with a deal, but it has to be a deal that respects the constitutional and economic integrity of the UK.
"Unfortunately the previous withdrawal agreement did not do that because of the backstop. The backstop that separated Northern Ireland out from the rest of the United Kingdom."
"We talked about the fact that Dublin and indeed Brussels needed to dial back on the rhetoric and be a willing partner to find a deal, not just for the UK but for the Republic of Ireland and the whole of Europe.
"No deal is on the table because of the fact we have a very belligerent European Union, who instead of focusing on a deal that was good for all of us, wanted to break up the United Kingdom.
"Something of course that no British prime minister should be a part of."
The Conservative Party will be "annihilated" at a general election if it fails to deliver Brexit by October 31, Nigel Farage has said.
Mr Farage praised Boris Johnson's performance since being installed in Downing Street, but warned that voters should remain sceptical about Mr Johnson's ability to deliver a no-deal Brexit.
Mr Johnson did not intend to depart the EU by Halloween but was seeking to improve Britain's negotiating position over the Withdrawal Agreement, Mr Farage wrote in The Daily Telegraph.
He added: "It must not be forgotten that Johnson voted for it at the third time of asking. If passing this is now his ambition for Brexit, my party will vigorously oppose him."
The Brexit Party is preparing to run candidates in a general election in Labour-held constituencies in the north of England, the Midlands and Wales.
Mr Farage said the Tories could never win the seats, which had mainly voted Leave in the 2016 referendum.
But the Brexit Party leader said he will not form an alliance with the Tories while Dominic Cummings is Mr Johnson's special adviser on leaving the bloc.
Mr Farage has previously cast doubt on Mr Cummings's Brexit convictions.
He said: "Lack of trust in the Conservatives is now a problem; many of us will only believe in a clean-break Brexit when we see it.
"Britain's best chance of achieving independence now comes from the Brexit Party.
"If the UK does not leave on October 31, the Conservatives will be annihilated in any subsequent general election."
New analysis of Google search trends suggests a vanishingly low level of public awareness of the possibility of a no-deal Brexit at the time of the EU referendum in 2016.
Foreign secretary Dominic Raab said earlier this week that campaigners for a Leave vote had made clear during the referendum that the UK would strive to reach a Brexit deal with the remaining EU, but would leave without one if necessary.
But records of terms entered in the internet search engine show no evidence whatsoever of Britons inquiring about a Brexit deal or a no-deal outcome at the time.
She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I think it's very important that the British system sets out very clearly for all of us what it and they would understand to be the point of threshold, the trigger point at which a border poll or a referendum would be called ... Well, I think some of the thresholds have been met."
On no-deal, she added: "In the event of a hard Brexit and a crash Brexit, I don't know for the life of me how anybody could sustain an argument that things remain the same...
"I don't know how Britain could crash this part of Ireland out of the EU with all of the attendant harm and damage economically and politically and, with a straight face, suggest to any of us who live on this island that we should not be given the democratic opportunity as per the Good Friday Agreement to decide our future.
"I think that would be quite scandalous."
He told Today: "The backstop is necessary for a number of reasons as we know, it's necessary to protect the all Ireland economy, it's necessary to protect the Good Friday Agreement to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland and all the consequences that would flow and will flow if we have a border on the island of Ireland, including the potential damage to our peace process and potential return to violence."
Mr Collins warned that "there can't be any pre-conditions to talks between Boris Johnson and the EU leaders" over Brexit.
He said: "We have negotiated with our European colleagues a Withdrawal Agreement with the British Government and that is the agreement within which we have to work.
"And any amount of, I suppose, debate or seeking to unravel that just simply isn't the case, there's too much at stake."
Boris Johnson has insisted that a private dinner with the DUP has not undermined his impartiality in efforts to restore powersharing.
The PM dined with Arlene Foster and other senior figures in Belfast on Tuesday amid ongoing negotiations aimed at renewing the Conservatives' confidence and supply deal with the DUP.
Critics have claimed the government is unable to act as an impartial mediator in talks to restore the crisis-hit institutions due to the controversial Westminster deal with the DUP.
Mr Johnson denied a conflict of interest as he arrived at Stormont House on Wednesday.
"It's all there in the Good Friday Agreement, we believe in complete impartiality and that's what we are going to observe," he said.
"But the crucial thing is to get this Stormont government up and running again."
One of the big stories today is comments from top No 10 aide Dominic Cummings, who told a conference that Conservative party MPs “don’t care about the NHS” and are apathetic about poor people.
Boris Johnson’s right-hand man in Downing Street expressed the damning views at a conference in 2017, claiming the public were “correct” to believe Tory politicians didn’t care about the people who relied most upon the health service.
Mr Cummings' appointment has sent shockwaves through Westminster - as the former Vote Leave chief has been outspoken in his criticism of MPs and civil servants/
Speaking after a meeting with Mr Johnson at Stormont, Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said it was clear the new PM had “set the compass for a disorderly and crash Brexit”, which she said would be “catastrophic” for the Irish economy and the peace accord.
She said Sinn Fein told him that his planning for a no-deal outcome must include the issue of a border poll for Ireland.
“Brexit in any event - but certainly a disorderly Brexit - represents in anybody’s language a dramatic change of circumstances on this island,” said Ms McDonald.
“It would be unthinkable in those circumstances that people would not be given the opportunity to decide on our future together.”
Ireland‘s opposition leader has accused Boris Johnson of abnormal political and diplomatic behaviour, in a public showing of unity between Ireland’s fierce rival political parties.
Micheál Martin, leader of Fianna Fáil, criticised the UK prime minister’s treatment of “our Taoiseach” Leo Varadkar, whose Fine Gael party is the longstanding opponent of his own.
“To be absolutely clear; the refusal by prime minister Boris Johnson to engage with European leaders and our Taoiseach without preconditions on the issue of Brexit is unacceptable and is not within the realms of normal diplomatic or political behaviour,” he said on Tuesday evening.
More here:
DUP leader Arlene Foster has launched an attack on a "belligerent" EU, less than a day after Boris Johnson blamed the bloc for intensifying the Brexit crisis.
Ms Foster's comments came the morning after the pair enjoyed a private dinner and appeared to suggest both are determined to pin blame on Brussels should efforts to secure a deal fail in the coming weeks and months.
On Tuesday, Mr Johnson said it was now the EU's "call" on whether a Brexit agreement was reached or not, as the bloc presented a united front against his attempts to renegotiate Theresa May's withdrawal agreement.
'What would no-deal Brexit mean for UK farmers,' asks Independent science correspondent Phoebe Weston.
Read her helpful explainer:
Boris Johnson has doubled down on his commitment to leave the EU on 31 October "come what may" in a meeting with Northern Irish politicians.
The new PM said the government was "steadfast" in its commitment to the Good Friday Agreement in all scenarios and insisted there would not be any physical checks on the Irish border.
Mr Johnson also told the parties he would do everything he could to kickstart powersharing in the region.
A Downing Street spokesperson said: “The PM told all of the parties that he was determined to bring this process to a successful conclusion and that he would do everything he could to make it happen.
“He said that while there had been constructive progress in recent weeks at Stormont, that there now needed to be serious and intense engagement to get this done and that he had faith that all parties would step up to the challenge."
The spokesperson added: “The discussions also included Brexit, where the prime minister made clear that the UK would be leaving the EU on October 31 come what may, and restated his intention to do so with a deal.
“He said that in all scenarios, the government is steadfast in its commitment to the Belfast-Good Friday Agreement and that in no circumstances would there be physical checks or infrastructure on the border."
The remarks came during an interview with Sky News Australia, and appear to be at odds with Labour's official policy.
Ms Thornberry said: "The vast majority of people in Britain, if they want to leave, believe it is in our interests to leave with a deal with the European Union."
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