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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Andrew Sparrow and Kevin Rawlinson

Brexit: Boris Johnson to offer EU 'far-reaching' alternative backstop plan - as it happened

Boris Johnson working on his conference speech in his hotel room in Manchester.
Boris Johnson working on his conference speech in his hotel room in Manchester. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/AFP/Getty Images

Closing summary

That’s it from us this evening. Thanks for reading and commenting. Here’s a summary of the day’s main events:

  • The prime minister was facing fresh questions over his links to Jennifer Arcuri after more damaging headlines this evening. The Guardian revealed that a Whitehall official who ran the scheme that granted Arcuri a coveted entrepreneur visa had worked for Boris Johnson when he was mayor. Johnson had earlier refused repeatedly to deny he had had an affair with Arcuri.
  • The UK will put forward “very constructive and far-reaching proposals” to the EU for an alternative to the backstop, the prime minister pledged. Boris Johnson made the claim after reports suggested the UK wanted to set up border checks a few miles either side of the Irish frontier, rather than on it. Johnson distanced himself from the proposals, though he said some checks being needing to be carried out was simply the “reality”. Dublin has made clear it considers the reported border proposals unacceptable.
  • The prime minister addressed those and a range of others issues during a host of broadcast interviews. You can see a comprehensive summary of those here.
  • Priti Patel promised to “end the free movement of people once and for all”. The home secretary delivered her conference speech in the early evening, promising an Australian-style points system to replace the principle.
  • The automatic early release of some prisoners is “madness”, according to the justice secretary. Robert Buckland told the Tory party conference he wants to end the system under which nearly all offenders sentenced to immediate custody are released at the midway point on licence in the community.
  • The Conservative MP, Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, was asked to leave the conference after what the party described as a “totally unacceptable” incident. Police were called to deal with the issue on Tuesday afternoon.
  • Dover faces losing £1bn in trade per week under a no-deal Brexit, it was claimed. Despite extensive preparations, the port’s chief executive told a fringe event he still expects to see a huge downturn.

And, if you’d like to read more, my colleagues Simon Murphy and Matthew Weaver have our main story:

Boris Johnson has arrived at a DUP reception at the Tory party conference, alongside the party’s leader, Arlene Foster.

Updated

Here’s a clip of the home secretary, Priti Patel, setting out her desire to “end the free movement of people once and for all” during her party conference speech earlier this evening (see 5.04pm):

The chancellor, Sajid Javid, has dropped the strongest hint yet that he may be about to scrap inheritance tax.

At a fringe event – and on the eve of Boris Johnson’s first conference speech as prime minister – he was asked by a party member if he would consider getting rid of the “most painful tax” to affect the public.

Javid hinted there could be significant reform on the horizon, and he also confirmed a budget would be held this year. He said:

We’ve already made some sensible reforms in that tax but I hear what you’re saying and you’re not the only one.

I shouldn’t say too much now but I understand the arguments against that tax. I do think when people pay taxes already through work, or through investments and capital gains and other taxes, there’s a real issue with then asking them on that income to pay taxes all over again.

Sensible changes have already been made but it is something that is on my mind.

Updated

Ireland’s deputy prime minister has rejected reports that a time-limited backstop could help solve the Brexit impasse. Simon Coveney has told RTÉ radio:

If we put an actual time limit on the backstop, well then there is no onus – particularly on the UK side, potentially – to find alternative solutions to the backstop that may be more permanent because it will simply fall after a certain period of time.

So, if you’re talking about a backstop and, if you can’t credibly answer the question: What happens on the border question at the end of it, of that time limit? Well, then it’s not a backstop at all.

It was claimed earlier in the afternoon that EU27 governments had privately discussed offering the time limit. Bloomberg cited unnamed sources in the report and a European commission spokesman was quoted as saying:

The EU is not considering this option at all. We are waiting for the UK to come forward with a legally operational solution that meets all the objectives of the backstop.

Updated

Former Johnson official ran scheme that granted Arcuri visa

There are fresh questions for Boris Johnson this evening, after the Guardian reveals that a Whitehall official who ran the scheme that granted Jennifer Arcuri a coveted entrepreneur visa had worked for Johnson when he was mayor of London.

My colleagues, Simon Murphy and Matthew Weaver, write that Arcuri – who is at the centre of a conflict of interest row over her friendship with Johnson – beat nearly 2,000 applicants to gain one of 200 sought-after tier 1 entrepreneur visas on the government’s Sirius programme after Johnson helped promote her firm, Innotech, by giving keynote speeches at her events. They add:

The Guardian has learned that Paola Cuneo, the then director of the Sirius programme, previously spent two-and-a-half years working in a senior post at London & Partners (L&P), the official mayoral promotional agency which Johnson had responsibility for while he was in City Hall.

Cuneo, Arcuri and Johnson attended the same Innotech event in October 2013, two months before the company joined the Sirius scheme.

A whistleblower has told the Guardian:

Innotech stood out compared to other startups in the programme, which had a much higher potential to scale up … I could not understand why we were giving so much attention and extra funds to Innotech.

Earlier this evening, Johnson refused three times to deny having an affair with Arcuri during an interview with Sky News.

Updated

Boris Johnson posted this on Twitter earlier, in a reference to the video showing an aide snatching a coffee cup from his hands because it was disposable.

Now there has been a run on those mugs, Sky’s Aubrey Allegretti reports.

That’s all from me for tonight.

My colleague Kevin Rawlinson is now taking over.

Speaking at a debate about gang-related violence, Iain Duncan Smith, the former Tory leader, was asked about the effects of Conservative party voters’ “after-dinner activities” (aka taking cocaine) on rising violent crime rates.

After it was clarified that “after-dinner activities” did not refer to the groping allegations against Boris Johnson, Duncan Smith said it needed to be pointed out that “the consequences of buying illegal drugs is that somebody dies”. He said:

You didn’t pull the trigger, you didn’t stab them, but the money you gave them has gone up the chain and has been used to buy the guns and knives and to pay off the kids that are doing the violent crime, so I think that’s a very simple message to give.

Yes of course we can crack down on the symptoms of that, which are criminal behaviour and violence, but the truth is you can crack down on your behaviour by saying: ‘I’m not going to do this any longer because I can’t bear the thought that somebody out there gets abused, killed or doesn’t make it to 22 because I was too busy indulging myself.’

Shaun Bailey, the Tory party’s London mayoral candidate, added that it was not just people in the Tory shires who used cocaine, but also in Labour-voting London. “Actually, most coke is sold in London,” he said. “It’s a bigger market and it’s sold in all the cool places. It isn’t just shire Tories [taking] coke. I’m sorry, it’s not who [takes] it. It’s the cool people who [take] it.”

Shaun Bailey
Shaun Bailey Photograph: James McCauley/Rex/Shutterstock

Updated

Tory members in the hall earlier this afternoon.
Tory members in the hall earlier this afternoon. Photograph: Phil Noble/Reuters

Boris Johnson to offer 'very constructive and far-reaching proposals' for replacing backstop

And in an interview with the BBC, Boris Johnson has said the UK will put forward some “very constructive and far-reaching proposals” to the EU for an alternative to the backstop.

Johnson said there would have to be new customs checks on the island of Ireland, away from the border.

If the EU is going to insist on on customs checks as we come out as it is, then we will have to accept that reality. And there will have to be a system for customs checks away from the border. Now, we think those checks can be absolutely minimal and non-intrusive and won’t involve new infrastructure.

(The EU would say that it is the UK creating the need for customs checks, by leaving the customs union.)

Johnson said it was preferable to have customs checks on north/south trade (ie between Northern Ireland and Ireland) than on east/west trade (ie, between Northern Ireland and Great Britain). He explained:

Just to set this in context for you, it’s important to understand that trade north/south of the border is dwarfed by trade east/west, ie from Northern Ireland to GB. So it would be wrong to, as it were, to keep Northern Ireland in a customs union with the EU and to create new checks down the Irish Sea for customs.

But the UK is proposing to accept an all-island zone for agrifoods, which would mean sanitary and phytosanitary checks taking place in the Irish Sea, on goods travelling from Britain to Northern Ireland, not for goods crossing the Ireland/Northern Ireland border. There are some of these checks in place alredy, but Johnson acknowledged that under his plan there would be more. He said:

Insofar as we’ve made a big move on sanitary, which we have, then that will logically imply some more checks down the Irish Sea. But we think that’s liveable with, provided it’s done in the right way.

The full transcript of the interview with Laura Kuenssberg is here.

Updated

In an interview with Sky News, Boris Johnson has refused three times to deny having an affair with Jennifer Arcuri, the businesswoman whose company received sponsorship from a mayoral fund when Johnson was in City Hall.

Opposition parties might have won their battle to keep the Commons in session while the Conservative conference is taking place, but they can’t as yet agree on everything – particularly on the idea of a possible government of national unity.

All the parties believe that if Boris Johnson tried to force a no-deal Brexit then their tactic of last resort would be a no-confidence vote, replacing him with an interim PM. However, while the Liberal Democrats insist it cannot be Corbyn, Labour say he is the only choice.

Speaking to reporters at parliament, Labour’s shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, said he hoped Jo Swinson could change her mind:

I was brought up a Catholic and I am a great believer in the powers of conversion.

But the Lib Dem leader argues that the Corbyn option is simply impossible, as he would not win the support of rebel former Conservative MPs and others whose votes would be needed.

A spokesman for Swinson said:

Jo is a great believer in the power of mathematics. Jeremy Corbyn does not have the numbers and needs to make clear who he would support if we need an emergency government.

There is wider disagreement. While the Lib Dems are seeking a cross-party temporary government led by a backbench grandee, such as Ken Clarke or Harriet Harman, Corbyn’s office have called for a “strictly time-limited caretaker administration”, a Labour-only government in office for a matter of days purely to extend the Brexit deadline and call an election.

The assumption is that if the alternative was no deal, one side would blink, but it remains to be seen who, and when.

Updated

Priti Patel's speech - Snap summary and verdict

That was the third most important speech at this conference. Technically Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary and first secretary of state, outranks Priti Patel, the home secretary, in cabinet, but Raab was given a low-profile slot on Sunday and his speech was under-powered. Patel’s speech was probably the most rightwing by a Tory home secretary at least since Michael Howard’s “prison works” one in 1993.

In policy terms, it was relatively light. There were three main announcements, but they all have so little money attached they are virtually cost-free: a fund to allow up to 60% of officers to be equipped with tasers (£10m); more activity to tackle county line drugs gangs (£20m); and a safer streets fund (£10m).

But what it lacked in policy heft, it made up for in rhetorical overkill. It may not seem necessary to say that the Tories are against “gang leaders, drug barons, thugs and terrorists”, but Boris Johnson reportedly decided to make Patel home secretary because her no-nonsense authoritarianism makes her popular with party members. It remains to be seen if the public at large will react in the same way. More interesting were her constant references to the need to obey the will of the people. (See 4.01pm.) She sounded like someone who would be happy to see parliamentary democracy replaced with a more direct form of democracy, bypassing the need for parliamentarians exercising their judgment. If the Brexit party ever takes power, their ministers will give speeches like this.

Patel got her loudest applause when she invoked Margaret Thatcher.

Margaret Thatcher knew that if you made the British people your compass, if you took time to understand their lives and their priorities, then your direction would always be true.

This suited Patel’s “will of the people” agenda, but in historical terms it was totally wrong. Thatcher would probably have loved this speech. But she was a conviction politician who knew that, if you just use British people as your compass, you will be all over the place because people keep changing their minds. Patel’s vision – almost government-by-plebiscite – was certainly not hers.

Updated

And here is the peroration.

This party, our Conservative party, is backing those who put their lives on the line for our national security.

So as we renew our place as the party of law and order in Britain, let the message go out from this hall today:

To the British people - we hear you.

To the police service - we back you.

And to the criminals, I simply say this: We are coming after you.

Conservative party conference day three – as it happened

Updated

Patel praises Margaret Thacher.

Only the Conservative party is driven by the people’s priorities and that means backing our police, our communities and our great country.

That pragmatic approach, grounded in the good sense of the British people, keeps us focused on what truly matters today.

That’s the lesson I took from the person who inspired me to join our party.

A Conservative prime minister first elected 40 years ago, this year.

Margaret Thatcher knew that if you made the British people your compass, if you took time to understand their lives and their priorities, then your direction would always be true.

“My policies,” she said, “are based not on some economics theory, but on things I and millions like me were brought up with: an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay; live within your means; pay your bills on time; and support the police.”

That advice is as sound today as it was 40 years ago.

Updated

Patel criticises Labour.

This daughter of immigrants needs no lectures from the north London metropolitan liberal elite.

That’s what you get with a government that is driven by the people’s priorities.

Of course, there will be only two dissenting voices: Diane Abbott and Jeremy Corbyn.

Because the choice isn’t just who the people want to be our next prime minister.

It’s also about who the people want to be their next home secretary.

Do we really want a Labour home secretary who would leave our communities and our country less safe?

Updated

Patel says the Brexit referendum result must be honoured.

She praises Boris Johnson’s role in the campaign.

And she turns to immigration.

As home secretary at this defining moment in our country’s history, I have a particular responsibility when it comes to taking back control.

It is to end the free movement of people once and for all.

Instead we will introduce an Australian-style points-based immigration system.

One that works in the best interests of Britain.

One that attracts and welcomes the brightest and the best.

One that supports brilliant scientists, the finest academics and leading people in their fields.

And one that is under the control of the British government.

Updated

Patel says the third reason for backing the police is because that is what people want.

This is a government driven by the people’s priorities.

Hardworking, honest, law-abiding people whose needs are humble, whose expectations are modest and whose demands of their government are simple.

They want us to listen.

They ask us to respond.

And they expect us to do what we say.

From crime, to immigration, to leaving the European Union, we are ready to listen and to do what they want.

It’s called democracy.

That shouldn’t really be a controversial statement.

They are the masters and we are their servants.

Patel says she is announcing a £20m fund to tackle county lines drug gangs and a £25m safer streets fund.

She says she will set up a fund to allow police chiefs to equip their officers with tasers.

She also says she is establishing a police covenant.

I have been humbled by the officers I have met and the experiences they have shared with me.

This is why I have personally accelerated work to establish the police covenant.

This is a pledge to do more as a nation to help those who serve our country.

To recognise the bravery, the commitment and the sacrifices of serving and former officers.

And we will enshrine this into law.

Updated

Second, says Patel, the police need support “to remove the grip gangs and organised criminals have on our communities”. She goes on:

They just don’t care who they hurt or abuse.

The kingpins of these criminal gangs are exploiting children.

Forcing them to carry crack cocaine and heroin across rural and coastal communities.

Threatening them into carrying guns and knives as “protection”.

Manipulating them into killing innocent people.

Faced with this new and growing danger, our police will know that I will back them to get this under control.

Patel says more officers are being recruited, and she has given the police more powers over stop and search.

There are three reasons:

Firstly, because backing the forces of law and order is central to our DNA as Conservatives.

Giving people the security they need to live their lives as they choose is an essential part of our freedom.

We recognise that freedom and security are not opposites, but equals.

And that ensuring people can live their lives free from fear is the essential foundation for a life of liberty.

Tories 'party of law and order once again', says Patel

Here is the opening quote.

Today, here in Manchester, the Conservative party takes its rightful place as the party of law and order in Britain once again.

We stand with the brave men and women of our police and security services.

And we stand against the criminals.

The gang leaders, drug barons, thugs and terrorists who seek to do us harm.

We say that proudly and without apology.

As the party that has always backed the forces of law and order, and we always will.

Updated

Priti Patel's speech

Priti Patel, the home secretary, is speaking now.

She starts by saying the Conservatives have restored their reputation as the party of law and order.

Tory MP Geoffrey Clifton-Brown asked to leave conference after 'unacceptable' incident

The Conservatives have said that Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown has been asked to leave the conference after the incident earlier. (See 2.58pm.) The party said he had tried to take someone into the international lounge who did not have the relevant pass. That person was stopped by a member of staff. Clifton-Brown then “remonstrated” with the staff member, leading to security being called.

A party spokesman said:

The incident was totally unacceptable. Geoffrey has been asked to leave conference and we are establishing all of the facts to see if further action is necessary. We will always adopt a zero tolerance approach to any inappropriate behaviour towards our hardworking staff.

Police at the international lounge, after the incident with Geoffrey Clifton-Brown
Police at the international lounge, after the incident with Geoffrey Clifton-Brown Photograph: Danny Lawson/PA

Robert Buckland claims current early release rules for prisoners are 'madness'

In 2015 Michael Gove was justice secretary and, in his speech to the Tory conference, he questioned the need to keep some prisoners in jail and stressed the importance of rehabilitation. The Daily Express hated the speech (always a good sign, if you’re a progressive), but my colleague Martin Kettle wrote a column saying liberals should be cheering Gove on.

Four years on, and the wheel has turned full circle. Robert Buckland is now justice secretary and, although he has never been seen as an arch-authoritarian, Boris Johnson has an election to win and the Tories are back in favour of locking more people up. As my colleague Jamie Grierson reports in his preview, Buckland announced plans to stop violent and sex offenders in England and Wales being automatically released halfway through their jail sentence

Here is Jamie’s story.

And here is an extract from Buckland’s speech.

Some form of earlier release has its place in the criminal justice system.

It can be used to incentivise good behaviour.

But this is not the system we have, conference.

There used to be a tougher system.

But in 2005, Labour replaced it with automatic release at the halfway point.

It didn’t matter to Labour if prisoners posed a risk to the public.

It didn’t matter to Labour if prisoners misbehaved in prison.

It didn’t matter to Labour if criminals didn’t show remorse.

This is madness.

Robert Buckland
Robert Buckland Photograph: David Mirzoeff/PA

Updated

From my colleague Peter Walker

Irish PM says leaked border controls plan would amount to 'bad faith' if UK adopted it

During leaders’ questions in the Dáil, Leo Varadkar, the Irish taoiseach, was asked about RTÉ’s leak of the UK’s government’s plan (or non-plan - see 1.23pm) for customs clearance sites away from the border on the island of Ireland. He said he had not seen the “non-paper” from the UK, but he was glad Boris Johnson had rejected it.

I’m conscious when answering your question that I am talking about non-papers that I haven’t seen. I was aware of their existence, and it was public knowledge in the last week or two, that the UK provided non-papers to the EU taskforce on the basis of confidentiality and not to be shared with member states.

I very much welcome Boris Johnson’s words today when he disowned the non-papers. Had he not, in my view, it would be hard evidence of bad faith by the UK government.

Varadkar said he expected the UK government to honour promises to avoid border checks.

The UK government promised no hard border or associated controls or checks and we expect the British government to honour that promise made in the withdrawal agreement. People here don’t want a customs border between north and south and no British government should seek to impose customs posts against the will of the people on the island of Ireland.

I’m interested in what Northern Ireland businesses have to say, in what retailers say. The UK has not been listening to businesses: the Freight Trade Association say it contradicts all their advice to the government; Manufacturing NI rejected them out of hand.

I would ask anyone to listen to the voices of Northern Ireland, from businesses to farmers, to people, who are saying no to customs posts, and we are saying no too.

He also suggested Johnson did not appreciate the case for the backstop. Referring to his conversation with Johnson at a recent UN meeting in New York, Varakdar said Johnson has spoken about the need for no checks at the border, but had not explained where they would take place.

It is his [Johnson’s] view that the UK should leave the EU whole and entire, to use his language, to leave the customs union.

As I explained to him in New York, there is a reason we came up with the deal that we did after two years with Mrs May and what the backstop provides for is a single customs territory.

That satisfied our demand and desire that there not be customs checks north and south, or east and west, and that’s why we came up with the backstop, why it is the best solution.

We spent two years going up and down rabbit holes, because we needed a solution that avoided customs posts.

Leo Varadkar (left) with Boris Johnson in Dublin last month.
Leo Varadkar (left) with Boris Johnson in Dublin last month. Photograph: Charles McQuillan/Getty Images

Updated

This is what the Press Association has filed about the incident at the conference earlier that led to security being called and part of the venue being cordoned off.

A senior Tory MP is understood to have clashed with security at the Conservative party conference, prompting a lockdown of part of the venue.

Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown was involved in what a doorman described as a “small misunderstanding” at the International Lounge in the conference centre.

Police said an attendee tried to enter the lounge without the relevant pass, leading security staff to intervene.

PA understands Clifton-Brown was trying to enter the room with a guest.

The “misunderstanding” led to a lockdown of some areas, including the press room, at the Manchester Central Convention Centre for around 20 minutes.

The Cotswolds MP told the PA news agency: “I’ve got nothing further to say about it. I don’t want to comment on it, really.”

A staff member guarding the door of the International Lounge said the incident was sparked by a disagreement.

“It was a small misunderstanding,” the man said.

Greater Manchester police said in statement: “At around 1.45pm on Tuesday 1 October 2019, an attendee to the Conservative party conference attempted to enter the International Lounge area of the conference without the relevant pass.

“Security staff intervened and resolved the situation without any breach of security occurring.”

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown
Geoffrey Clifton-Brown. Photograph: Sky News

Updated

Customs infrastructure even 5 miles from the Irish border risked breaking Brexit laws passed by the House of Commons this year, parliament has been told.

In oral questions in the House of Commons, the Labour MPs Pat McFadden and Angela Eagle raised section 10 (2) (b) of the Withdrawal Act 2019.

It states categorically that there can be no “border arrangements between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland after exit day which feature physical infrastructure, including border posts, or checks and controls, that did not exist before exit day and are not in accordance with an agreement between the United Kingdom and the EU”.

McFadden told James Durridge, who was taking questions for the government, that it had “obligations to abide by the law”. He asked:

Would he regard such physical infrastructure a few miles back from the border as incompatible with the legislation that this house has passed?

Durridge replied: “I will write to the honourable gentleman original - and confirm what I think is the bleeding obvious.”

The point made by Labour backbenchers is one that has also raises concerns with Peter Hain, the Labour former Northern Ireland secretary, who said it it would be “the achilles heel” of government plans to dodge commitments in Theresa May’s deal.

Updated

The incident that led to a part of the conference centre being closed and police being called involved the Conservative MP Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, my colleague Rowena Mason reports. Clifton-Brown is treasurer of the Conservative 1922 Committee.

We are still waiting for a full statement from the party.

The government cannot rely on European Union law to override the act of parliament forcing Boris Johnson to seek an extension to Brexit talks, a former EU senior legal adviser has said.

Jean-Claude Piris, a former head of the EU council legal service, said suggestions the government could rely on EU law to trump the Benn Act had no legal basis. In emailed comments to the Guardian he said:

EU law is far from always having direct effect. In the case of article 50, the decision of a member state to leave the EU must be taken in conformity with the constitutional requirements of that state. Thus no direct effect. The authorities to judge if British constitutional requirements are being respected are the British competent ones.

He was responding to suggestions from the foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, that EU law could be used to override the Benn Act, which mandates the prime minister to seek an extension if no Brexit deal has been agreed by 19 October.

Raab, who served a four-month stint as Brexit secretary before resigning over Theresa May’s deal, hinted the government was looking at article 50 to override the Benn Act, in a recent interview with the Mail on Sunday.

Updated

Here is Boris Johnson telling Channel 4 News that he does not know why he has not been scheduled to do an interview with them today.

Presumably Channel 4 is still in the doghouse after Dorothy Byrne, its head of news, used the MacTaggart lecture at Edinburgh to call Johnson a “known liar”.

From LBC’s Alex Cadier

Police called to incident at Tory conference

We’ve been told by party sources that there has been an “incident” at the Conservative party conference. A small area between the press area and the hall has been closed off and police are in attendance. The party is due to issue a statement soon.

At the moment that’s all we know. But officials don’t seem particularly alarmed, and away from the cordoned off area everything is carrying on as normal, so at the moment it does not appear too serious.

Updated

Dover could lose £1bn worth of trade a week under no deal, Tory fringe told

Despite extensive preparations at Dover, the port’s chief executive said it still expects to see a drop in trade worth £1bn a week should Britain leave the EU without a deal. Addressing a ConservativeHome/Port of Dover fringe event at the conference, the transport minister George Freeman confirmed the government was assuming that disruption would roughly halve the traffic on Britain’s main trading link for three months; the drop would range from 40% to 60%.

Doug Bannister, the chief executive of Port of Dover, said the assumed drop in traffic would cut £1bn in trade every week. He said:

That’s how critical it is. If there’s a no-deal Brexit, it’s not going to be OK. But people are doing all they can to ensure Britain keeps trading.

Freeman said he hoped goodwill would prevail should a deal not be agreed by 31 October. Asked what preparations the government was making for “malign interventions”, such as a potential blockade by French fishermen, Freeman said he had seen cabinet papers showing “the Ministry of Defence are actively looking at it”, raising the potential for alarming escalation.

The Freight Transport Association said its preparations meant it did not expect “wholesale meltdown” but people could expect to see less fresh produce. James Hookham, the deputy chief executive of the FTA, said: “There will be changes to what people can expect to see in the shops undoubtedly.”

He said the FTA was holding 140 training sessions in the next few weeks to educate hauliers about the potential paperwork needed. But he said questions still remained unanswered, even in an intricate flowchart issued by the Department for Transport to explain customs and border processes. He said:

The biggest unknown in our book is what the French and EU will demand in terms of British goods imported into the EU.

With delays of up to five days forecast for hauliers doing return border crossings, Hookham said he had advised hauliers to take out additional insurance for cargo, especially perishable goods.

He also said the full impact of a no-deal Brexit on Dover, Calais and Kent would probably not be seen until at least Monday 4 November, due to a long weekend in much of Europe, starting with a public holiday on 1 November (a celebration unrelated to Britain’s departure from the EU).

Updated

James Duddridge, the Brexit minister, has just told MPs in the Commons that the EU will get formal proposals from the UK for an alternative to the backstop before the end of the week.

At the Tory conference there is an expectation that the plans will be submitted to the EU tomorrow.

From Channel 4 News’ Jon Snow

Brexit minister says government not planning checks near Irish border

In the Commons James Duddridge, a Brexit minister, is responding to an urgent question about the Irish border and the RTÉ leak about the government’s plans.

He said the RTÉ story was not true. Responding to the UQ, which was tabled by Hilary Benn, the Labour chair of the Commons Brexit committee, Duddridge said:

There is no intention to have physical checks at the border. I’m not choosing my words carefully there – there are no plans to do that, I can reassure him.

I do know he was perhaps thinking about the reports in the Northern Ireland press that were suggesting there might be checks near the border? That is not the intention, those reports simply are incorrect.

As my colleague Jennifer Rankin reports, EU sources have confirmed that the RTÉ report did reflect a plan set out in a “non-paper” submitted to the EU by the British.

The whole point about a “non-paper” is that it allows a government to float an idea in negotiations without that proposal being treated as an official proposal from the body submitting it.

That means it would be accurate for a journalist to describe one of these as a proposition put forward by the government - but also accurate for the government to say this was not an official proposal.

This might help to explain why the government’s attempts to rebut the RTÉ story this morning have been inconsistent. At one point Boris Johnson suggested the report applied to a proposal that was out-of-date. (See 8.09am.) At another point he said the report, or at least its reference to a string of border posts away from the actual border, was just wrong. (See 11.13am.)

Updated

Boris Johnson’s hopes of entering into intensive Brexit negotiations next week are likely to be dashed after his backing for a customs border on the island of Ireland was criticised in Berlin as being a green light for the return of a hard border, my colleagues Daniel Boffery and Jennifer Rankin report.

This morning Boris Johnson criticised his Labour successor as London mayor, Sadiq Khan, for spending too much money on press officers. But, according to the Mirror, Johnson’s own spending on PR was higher.

Newsnight’s Nicholas Watt has written a good blogpost about Boris Johnson’s plans for an alternative to the backstop. He is not optimistic about a deal. Here’s an extract.

EU sources are withering about the UK proposals. One told me: “Their [the UK] idea for customs land checks are no different from what would happen in no deal.”

The source sees little chance of a deal on the basis of the proposals floated by Mr Johnson’s most senior EU adviser, David Frost.

“We have been told by people we take seriously that Boris Johnson wants a deal,” the source told me. “But we do not see how a deal can be done.”

Updated

Two people arriving for the Tory conference this morning in the rain.
Two people arriving for the Tory conference this morning in the rain. Photograph: Frank Augstein/AP

Javid says £39bn figure for sum owed to EU will be 'no longer relevant' in event of no deal

Sajid Javid, the chancellor, has been taking Treasury questions in parliament this morning. The Commons is sitting, of course, because the normal conference recess was cancelled after the government lost a vote last week.

In response to a question from the Tory MP Philip Hollobone, Javid said the UK would no longer owe the EU £39bn if it left without a deal. Hollobone asked for an assurance that the UK would be able to keep the money in a no-deal situation. And Javid replied:

The £39bn is based on a deal. If there is no deal and we end up leaving with no deal that 39bn number is no longer relevant.

Javid may be right to say the exact £39bn figure (a UK government assessment of how much it would pay under the complicated formula in the withdrawal agreement) would not be relevant under a no-deal Brexit. But government officials believe much or most of this money would still have to be paid, because the financial obligations would still be outstanding.

The Labour MP Helen Hayes asked Javid if he was confident that hedge funds shorting the pound, “some of which have donated to the prime minister’s leadership campaign and to the Conservative party, have no inside information about the planning or timing of a no-deal Brexit”.

Javid replied:

That really is such a ridiculous suggestion and it doesn’t deserve an answer.

Updated

Jacob Rees-Mogg, the leader of the Commons, has said that some of the 21 Tories who lost the whip after rebelling over Brexit last month could be readmitted to the parliamentary party. In an interview for Moggcast, his ConservativeHome podcast, he said:

I always believe in politics in being as generous as you possibly can be. But you cannot have a situation where people are trying to put Jeremy Corbyn in charge of the order paper.

So, look, if they are willing to show that they are willing to support a Conservative government deliver a Conservative programme, and pull back from what they did before, I think generosity is in the nature of conservatism, and the Conservative party is a broad church and needs to remain a broad church ...

So how do we get on from here? Well, let’s see if there are any other votes which give them the chance to come back, but I think a number of them are retiring and have no interest in coming back, so it won’t be everybody.

He also said there was no obvious way in which the government would be able to get around the Benn Act, which is designed to rule out a no-deal Brexit on 31 October. Asked about potential flaws in the legislation, he replied:

The law is the law as it is. There is the very important question of how it interacts with EU law, but there is no easy and obvious loophole that I can sit here and tell you we can use, because if there is I haven’t spotted it.

Updated

This morning’s conference business - including a session on communities, with contributions from Tory metro mayors Andy Street and Ben Houchen, and Iain Dale in conversation with Lord Dobbs - has not been much of a crowd puller.

Empty seats at the morning conference session.
Empty seats at the morning conference session. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

A man has been detained by police after pouring a flammable liquid over himself near the Houses of Parliament, the Press Association reports. The incident unfolded at around 10.45am and the Metropolitan police said the man was being assessed. The London Ambulance Service also attended.

The Tory MP Huw Merriman posted this on Twitter.

Updated

Ian Blackford, the Scottish National party’s leader at Westminster, has said the leaked border plans show Boris Johnson is not serious about getting a Brexit deal. In a statement he said:

Boris Johnson’s leaked proposals show the Tory leader is not serious about getting a deal - and is aiming to take Scotland and the UK off a no-deal Brexit cliff.

For all the bluster, the proposals just aren’t credible. By fixating on its extreme Brexit obsession, the Tory government is recklessly putting the Good Friday agreement at risk - and would inflict lasting harm on jobs, living standards, public services and the economy across the UK.

Updated

Johnson says some checks on goods crossing Irish border 'just the reality' after Brexit

Here is more on exactly what Boris Johnson said this morning about potential customs arrangements in Northern Ireland. (See 9.52am.)

On the Today programme Nick Robinson said the RTÉ leak suggested there would be a string of border posts, not on the Irish border, but not far away. Asked if that was untrue, Johnson replied:

Yes. That’s not what we are proposing at all.

Johnson said he did not want to discuss his proposals until they had been shared properly with the EU. But he said he was not talking about a “hard border” just a few miles away from the actual border. He said:

There are very good reasons why that would not be a good idea. I think everybody familiar with the situation in Ireland can understand why, both for practical reasons and for reasons of sentiment that we totally, totally understand.

Robinson said that some in Ireland, like Sinn Féin (see 10.29am), thought there should be no checks at all on the island of Ireland. But other people argued that there would have to be checks somewhere if the UK was going to be in a separate economic arrangement. What did Johnson think? He replied:

Well, I’m with the second group because that’s just the reality. And I think what we are coming up to now is, as it were, the critical moment of choice for us as friends and partners about how we proceed. Because in the end a sovereign, united country must have a single customs territory. And when the UK withdraws from the EU that must be the state of affairs that we have. But there are plenty of ways we can facilitate north/south trade, plenty of ways in which we can address the problem.

Updated

Here are tweets from three Brussels experts on the leaked UK plan for customs sites away from the border in Northern Ireland revealed by RTÉ last night. Of course, Boris Johnson has dismissed the report – although he has said it is a “reality” that some customs checks will be needed. (See 9.52am.)

From Raoul Ruparel, a former adviser on EU policy to Theresa May

Peter Foster, the Telegraph’s Europe editor, has posted a Twitter thread starting here.

And it ends with this.

From Mujtaba Rahman, a former European commission official and the Brexit specialist for the Eurasia consultancy

Updated

Mary Lou McDonald, the Sinn Féin president, told the BBC this morning that the plans for customs sites away from the border - leaked to RTÉ but subsequently dismissed by Boris Johnson as not reflecting the government’s current thinking - would amount to a return of a hard border. She said a plan like this would be unacceptable to Sinn Féin. She explained:

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 ...

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.

Updated

Matt Hancock, the health secretary, outside the Tory conference this morning.
Matt Hancock, the health secretary, outside the Tory conference this morning. Photograph: Peter Byrne/PA

Boris Johnson's morning interviews - Summary

Here are the main points from Boris Johnson’s three broadcast interviews this morning.

  • Johnson played down the row generated by the leak of UK plans for customs clearance sites in Northern Ireland and Ireland, away from the border, by saying these particular proposals were out-of-date. (See 8.09am.) He said there were “very good reasons” why it would not be a good idea just to move border checks away from the border. 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. Johnson would not say exactly what the UK was proposing as an alternative to the backstop, but he said the plans would be presented to the EU very soon.
  • He implied that he might know by the weekend whether or not a deal with the EU will be achievable. He was asked about a story saying this in the Financial Times (paywall). It says:

Mr Johnson’s allies say they expect Britain to submit to Brussels its formal proposals for a Brexit deal — in legal text — after the prime minister closes the Conservative party conference in Manchester.

In his speech to party activists, the prime minister is expected to declare the controversial “Irish backstop” dead, challenging the EU to accept the new British proposal or face the prospect of a disorderly no-deal Brexit.

“By the end of the week everyone will know whether a deal is possible,” said one ally. One cabinet minister said: “If the EU starts to leak and brief against us, that would be a very bad sign.”

Asked about this story, Johnson did not reject its premise. He replied:

What we will be doing is giving our friends a proposal, we think it’s a good proposal. Clearly, if there is no way of getting it over the line from their point of view, we will have to live with that.

  • He said he had not asked EU countries to veto a Brexit extension. At the weekend he fuelled speculation that this was his strategy by refusing to say whether or not he had done this. Today, asked directly if he was asking EU leaders to refuse an article 50 extension, as the Times is reporting, he replied:

We haven’t. In truth, we have not made any such request.

But Johnson did not rule out making such a request in future.

  • He implied that the EU would regret keeping the UK in. Asked directly if the UK was threatening to cause trouble if forced to remain a member, he did not reject the idea, and said the EU was doing things that were not in the interests of the UK. (See 8.21am.)
  • He claimed that misconduct allegations against him were being raised now as part of a bid to frustrate Brexit. Asked about the Jennifer Arcuri and Charlotte Edwardes allegations, and why they were surfacing now, he replied:

I think there’s a very good reason, and that is that I’ve been tasked one way or the other to get Brexit done by October 31. And there are quite a lot of well-meaning and highly intelligent people who basically think that that would be something they don’t want to see, and I think that there is a concerted effort now to frustrate Brexit.

At another point he said:

You asked me about why is all this shot and shell raining down on the government – I think it is because we’re going to get on and deliver Brexit by October 31.

  • He claimed Sadiq Khan, the current Labour mayor of London, was involved in keeping the Arcuri story in the news.
  • He said it was “very sad” that Charlotte Edwardes had accused him of groping her at a lunch 20 years ago. Commenting on her allegations, he said:

I’ve said what I’ve said about that. They are not true. It’s obviously very sad that someone should make such allegations - they are not true.

  • He rejected claims he had a “women problem”, claiming that he had been “a big champion of women” as London mayor and as foreign secretary.
  • He said he had never heard of the BBC presenter Naga Munchetty, who has been at the centre of major row over complaints that her comment about Donald Trump using racist language breached editorial guidelines. This story has been headline news, on the BBC and elsewhere, for days. But when Johnson was asked if he thought Munchetty had done anything wrong, he replied:

I am so sorry, I have never heard of her.

When the LBC presenter Nick Ferrari expressed astonishment at this, Johnson went on:

You’re going to have to forgive me. I should know about Naga Munchetty.

  • He revived suggestions that the MPs who drafted the Benn Act designed to stop a no-deal Brexit on 31 October may have had foreign help. Asked about the decision by unnamed No 10 sources to accuse them of “collusion”, he said:

I think there is a legitimate question to be asked about the generation of this SO24 legislation. It is a very interesting situation. We have bills and an act - the so-called surrender act - that I’m afraid has a massive consequence for the people and economy of this country were it to be effected.

We have no knowledge of how it was produced. It is not subject to normal parliamentary scrutiny. No one knows by whose advice or legal advice it was drawn up.

  • He claimed he was still the “generous-hearted ... one nation Tory” he was when he was London mayor. When it was put to him that many of his previous supporters were alarmed at how he seemed to have changed as a politician since becoming PM, he replied:

I say to all those who wish to see a return of the old generous-hearted, loving mayor of London and all the rest of it, that person has not gone away. I am a one nation Tory.

But we are in a position where the only way we can take this country forward and unite our country again is to get Brexit done. That’s what we need to do.

  • He said he was a “bus fanatic”.
Boris Johnson outside the conference venue this morning after conducting his morning interviews.
Boris Johnson outside the conference venue this morning after conducting his morning interviews. Photograph: Henry Nicholls/Reuters

Updated

From the Times’s Matt Chorley

Here is Boris Johnson on the set of Today.

Q: Do you regret any of the language you have used?

Johnson says he has to recognise that people can take offence.

Q: Has your partner, Carrie Symonds, suggested you tone it down a bit?

No, says Johnson.

He says he persists in thinking the surrender act is an appropriate term for the Benn Act. It gives the EU the power to decide how long the UK would stay in the EU.

(Actually, it doesn’t. See here, the second bullet point.)

And that’s it.

I will post a summary of the key points from all these interviews shortly.

Johnson is now back to buses, saying they can make a huge difference to people’s lives.

He wants people to be able to use contactless payments on buses across the UK.

Ferrari quotes some comments from David Cameron’s book about Johnson: “paranoid ... massive irritation ... full of jealousies that influenced his behaviour.”

Johnson says he has had his up and downs in his relationship with Cameron. He says he has not read Cameron’s book.

Q: Did you tell David Cameron that Brexit would be crushed like a toad?

Johnson says he won’t comment on private conversations.

Q: So it is true.

Q: What was your relationship with Jennifer Arcuri?

Johnson claims this story is being pushed by the current mayor of London, Sadiq Khan. He says Khan has let knife crime out of control.

Q: Did you behave improperly with Charlotte Edwardes?

No, says Johnson.

Q: Matt Hancock says he believes Edwardes. What do you say about that?

Johnson says he is saying what he has to say.

Q: Why are these stories coming out?

Johnson says some intelligent people want to block Brexit. There is a “concerted effort” to stop it happening, he says.

  • Johnson suggests misconduct allegations against him are being raised as part of an effort to block Brexit.

Q: Are you saying these allegations are politically motivated?

Johnson says he is getting a lot of “shot and shell” because he is trying to deliver Brexit.

And it may be an attempt to distract from his domestic agenda, he says.

Q: Your sister says you are backed by currency speculators who will benefit from a no-deal Brexit.

Johnson says that claim is wrong. But he does not want to say more about his sister.

Boris Johnson says he has not heard of Naga Munchetty

Johnson says he does not know who Naga Munchetty is, or what the story about her being reprimanded by the BBC was all about.

Updated

Q: Have you apologised to the Queen for the unlawful prorogation?

Johnson says it would be wrong for him to comment on his conversations with the Queen.

Q; Will you prorogue parliament again?

Johnson says, to have a Queen’s speech, it is necessary to prorogue. He says he will have to check the judgment to see what is possible, but he thinks prorogation is possible. He says there will be a Queen’s speech.

  • Johnson says Queen’s speech will go ahead.

Boris Johnson’s LBC interview

Nick Ferrari is now interviewing Boris Johnson on LBC.

Q: Are you likely to die in a ditch?

I hope not, says Johnson. He says he wants to get Brexit done.

Q: The FT says by the weekend you will know if the EU are going to accept your deal.

Johnson accepts that. But he says he hopes the EU will see some merit in the UK plan when they see it shortly.

  • Johnson accepts that it will be clear within days whether or not a deal is possible.

Q: Have you got a women problem?

Johnson says he has always been a champion of women in every organisation he has run - like City Hall and the Foreign Office.

As foreign secretary, he promoted education for girls.

Q: What are you saying about the Charlotte Edwardes’ allegation?

Johnson says he is not minimising the importance of matters like this. But this allegation is not true, he says.

Q: People who used to admire you think you have changed. Are you going to carry on like this?

Johnson says, the way he sees it, he has been tasked by the British people with delivering Brexit. It is a difficult job. Many people want to prevent this. But it has to be done.

All those who want to see the return of the old, generous-hearted mayor of London - that person has not gone away. He is a one nation Conservative, he says. But he says the only way to unite the country is to get Brexit done.

  • Johnson claims he remains at heart the “generous-hearted” Tory he was when he was mayor of London.

And that’s it. The interview is over.

Johnson makes the point about being a “bus fanatic”.

Johnson claims no-deal Brexit would not derail planned hospital building programme

Q: During the referendum you admitted that a no-deal Brexit would hit the economy. The OBR says it will be £30bn a year. So you won’t be able to afford this hospital building programme.

Johnson says the money is there.

In 10 years’ time there will be 40 new hospitals.

Q; But you are just releasing £100m for these now. The money won’t be there if there is a no-deal Brexit.

Johnson says the money is there.

  • Johnson claims a no-deal Brexit would not derail his planned hospital building programme.

Q: How did you feel when your sister Rachel criticised the language you used about your critics?

Johnson says disagrees with some family members on Brexit.

Q: This is not about Brexit. This is about your language. Number 10 has accused your critics of “foreign collusion”.

Johnson says it is worth asking how that “surrender act” came about. We have no knowledge of how that bill was produced. It was not subject to normal parliamentary processes.

Q: So it may be produced by foreign government?

Johnson says he personally has not used the word “collaborators”.

Q: You said collaborating.

Johnson says there are different connotations to different words.

He says no one knows how this bill was produced.

Johnson says staying in would cost £1bn a month.

Robinson says that figure is disputed - like his £350m a week figure on the Vote Leave bus.

Johnson says that figure would be higher now.

Q: Are you asking EU leaders to rule out a Brexit extension?

Johnson says he has not made any such request.

But he says he thinks EU leaders do want this sorted.

Q: You told Andrew Marr that the EU would not want the UK to stay as a “truculent” member. Are you threatening bad behaviour if we stay?

Johnson says people want to leave. He says he does not think any purpose is achieved by keeping the UK in against its will.

Q: Dominic Raab says we won’t “play nice” if we stay. Are you threatening to muck things up if kept in?

Johnson says the EU is doing things that are not in the interests of the UK.

Q: So you will veto things they want?

Johnson says the EU see the UK as a great power. We have spent three years arguing about leaving. They want to see us leaving, and a positive relationship with us. He goes on:

I am a pro-European. I actually love Europe.

Updated

Q: There are people who say you don’t want a deal. And look where your money comes from. Your donors do not want a deal?

Johnson says this is the inverse of reality. He wants a deal. But there are limits. There is a limit to how much a sovereign country can compromise on customs.

On sanitary and phytosanitary plans for Ireland, he has already moved “a long way”.

He says he does not think people in the UK have recognised quite how much the UK has moved on this.

  • Johnson claims UK has already compromised more on backstop than people realise.

Boris Johnson interviewed on Today

Nick Robinson is interviewing Boris Johnson on Today.

Q: Will you be ringing EU leaders today about your plans?

Johnson says he has been making calls.

He has seen some leaked plans, possibly leaked by Brussels, that are not quite right.

Q: So the report about having customs clearances sites away from the border are not true?

Johnson says that is correct.

It would not make sense to have a new border away from the border.

Q: But people say there have to be checks somewhere?

Johnson says he accepts that.

He says the UK is coming up to the point of decision.

A single, united country must have its own customs territory.

But there are lots of ways of doing this. There are ways of protecting the customs area.

Robinson says Johnson can come back and discuss his plans when they are published. Johnson does not reject the idea.

Boris Johnson dismisses leaked UK border plan rejected by Dublin as out-of-date

This is what Boris Johnson told BBC Breakfast about the plan for customs clearance sites away from the Northern Ireland border leaked to RTE.

As far as I can make out from what I have seen of the response from Brussels and, I think, Dublin, they are not talking about the proposals that we are actually going to be tabling. They are talking about some stuff that went in previously ...

We’ve made a very good offer, we are going to make a very good offer, we will be tabling it formally very soon.

Q: Did you expect this level of scrutiny? Have you enjoyed the job?

Johnson says it is a wonderful job.

He is motivated by the desire to tackle things like low pay.

The national living wage is going up. The living wage is a fantastic thing, he says. And he says it works for employers because their staff are better motivated.

He says he does not want to minimise things like sexual misconduct (my terms, not his). But in this case the allegations are not true.

He says he loves buses. He is a “bus fanatic”.

He says, if you put contactless payment on buses, you will get more cars off the road.

And that’s it.

Q: Do people trust you?

Look at what we do, he says.

He says he stood on the steps of Number 10 and promised more police officers and new hospitals. Those officer are being recruited, and he has published plans for 40 new hospitals, he says.

Q: You don’t talk about your private life.

Johnson says he intends to continue with that.

Q: But what do you say about Charlotte Edwardes?

Johnson says this is a difficult time. A lot of people don’t want Brexit to be done. They see Johnson as the person delivering it. So it is inevitable he will come in for a lot of “shot and shell”.

He says the Edwardes’ allegations are “not true”. It is “very sad” that she has made them, she says.

Q: Is that behaviour inappropriate?

It is not true, says Johnson.

Q: But would it be inappropriate?

Yes, of course, says Johnson.

  • Johnson says it is “very sad” that the journalist Charlotte Edwardes has made groping allegations against him that are “not true”.

Johnson says the most important thing is to “bust out” of the backstop arrangements.

Under the backstop, the UK would have to accept EU laws, he says.

He says he wants to exploit “the freedoms that are so vital for Brexit”.

And he thinks this can be done in a way that protects the Good Friday agreement, he says.

Q: What else will you change about the withdrawal agreement? Will it just be Theresa May’s deal without the backstop?

Johnson says getting rid of the backstop is the main goal. But he wants changes to the political declaration too.

He says getting rid of the backstop will allow the UK to have an exciting relationship with the EU and the rest of the world.

There is no point in leaving the EU if you stay in the customs union, bound by EU trade policy.

Johnson says the UK has agreed that there should be an all-island area in Ireland for agri-foods. This would mean Northern Ireland being bound by EU sanitary and phytosanitary rules. That is a big concession from the UK, he says.

Dan Walker is interviewing Boris Johnson on BBC Breakfast.

Q: What are the backstop changes you are planning?

Johnson says the EU and Dublin are not talking about the UK government’s final plans. They are talking about “some stuff” that was proposed earlier.

He says the UK will make a “very good offer”. It will table it soon.

To be a country, you need a single border.

Q: So are you going to have customs sites as described?

No, says Johnson.

Q: So what are you planning?

Johnson says he does not want to say now. Plans can get distorted.

Updated

Here are the Boris Johnson interviews coming up.

7.45am - BBC Breakfast

8.10am - Today programme

8.30am - LBC

Boris Johnson interviewed as Ireland dismisses UK border plan as 'non-starter'

Boris Johnson is doing a round of media interviews this morning, and he is bound to be asked about an important Brexit story that broke last night. The UK government is due to present the EU with detailed plans for a replacement to the backstop within days and last night the Irish broadcaster RTE published a leak of plans, saying the UK wants to have customs clearance sites in Ireland, five to 10 miles away from the border to the north and the south. The Irish government has called the plans a “non-starter”.

  • Here is my colleague Lisa O’Carroll’s overnight story about the leak of the plans.

And here is how Lisa’s story starts.

Boris Johnson’s secret plans to solve the Irish border Brexit challenge involve customs sites on both sides of the border and real-time tracking devices on lorries, it has been reported.

The ideas, which mark a departure from his promise not to put infrastructure on the border, are part of four unofficial papers submitted by the UK to Brussels by Johnson’s team.

The broadcaster RTÉ, which has had sight of the the tightly guarded proposals, is reporting that customs clearance sites would be sited five to 10 miles from the border to the north and the south to deal with imports and exports.

Traders would have the choice of lodging their papers at these sites, similar to the ones that existed before the single market came into existence, or electing to be tracked electronically in an online “transit” arrangement.

  • Simon Coveney, the Irish foreign minister and deputy prime minister, has rejected the proposals.
  • Robert Buckland, the justice secretary, has said the plans leaked to RTE are just “preliminary documents”.

Here is the agenda for the day.

10am: The conference opens with a session on stronger communities, followed by a session celebrating “the Conservative party in action”, hosted by Lord Dobbs and Iain Dale.

2pm: A session on social justice in action.

2.45pm: Shaun Bailey, the Tory mayoral candidate for London, speaks.

3pm: Session on criminal justice, with speeches from Robert Buckland, the justice secretary, Geoffrey Cox, the attorney general, and

3.45pm: Priti Patel, the home secretary speaks.

As usual, I will be covering breaking political news as it happens, as well as bringing you the best reaction, comment and analysis from the web, although I will be focusing almost exclusively on the Conservative conference. I plan to publish a summary when I wrap up.

You can read all the latest Guardian politics articles here. Here is the Politico Europe roundup of this morning’s political news. And here is the PoliticsHome list of today’s top 10 must-reads.

If you want to follow me or contact me on Twitter, I’m on @AndrewSparrow.

I try to monitor the comments below the line (BTL) but it is impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, do include “Andrew” in it somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I do try to answer questions, and if they are of general interest, I will post the question and reply above the line (ATL), although I can’t promise to do this for everyone.

If you want to attract my attention quickly, it is probably better to use Twitter.

Updated

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