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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Andrew Sparrow

Brexit: Angela Merkel gives Boris Johnson 30 days to come up with solution to backstop - live news

Merkel/Johnson press conference - Summary and analysis

Here are the main points from the press conference.

  • Boris Johnson accepted that he had 30 days to persuade the EU that there was a viable alternative to the backstop. For the first time, he seemed to accept that it was up to the UK to come up with a solution, not the EU. During a friendly press conference on his first overseas visit as PM, which was notable for the absence of any comments from Johnson or Angela Merkel critical of each other’s Brexit positions, Merkel at one point appeared to set Johnson a 30 day deadline. She said that the backstop had always been a “fallback position” and would only come into effect if no other solution could be agreed that would protect the “integrity of the single market”. She went on:

If one is able to solve this conundrum, if one finds this solution, we said we would probably find it in the next two years to come but we can also maybe find it in the next 30 days to come. Then we are one step further in the right direction and we have to obviously put our all into this.

Her reference to 30 days may just have been an acknowledgment that, if there is going to be a Brexit deal, the elements of it will have to be in place well in time for the next EU summit scheduled in mid-October, which means it would have to be coming together by mid-September anyway. Johnson gratefully accepted this challenge. He said:

You [Merkel] rightly say the onus is on us to produce those solutions, those ideas, to show how we can address the issue of the Northern Irish border and that is what we want to do. I must say I am very glad listening to you tonight Angela to hear that at least the conversations that matter can now properly begin. You have set a very blistering timetable of 30 days - if I understood you correctly, I am more than happy with that.

His admission that the “onus” was on him to find a solution was significant because until now the UK government has been arguing that it is up to the EU to shift first, by abandoning its stance on the backstop.

I think what we need to do is remove it whole and entire - the backstop - and then work, as Chancellor Merkel says, on the alternative arrangements.

There are abundant solutions which are proffered, which have already been discussed. I don’t think, to be fair, they have so far been very actively proposed over the last three years by the British government.

Explaining what the ideas in the Alternative Arrangements Commission report involve, Johnson said:

We do think there are alternative arrangements that could readily be used to address the problem of frictionless trade at the Northern Irish border and you’ll have heard them before, whether it is trusted trader schemes or electronic pre-clearing, all that type of solution and more besides is what we will be wanting to discuss.

David Henig, the former civil servant who heads the UK Trade Policy Project, thinks Johnson’s optimism is misplaced.

  • Johnson claimed EU negotiations often resulted in a surprise agreement at the last minute. He said:

I have, in my life, watched a lot of European negotiations and, believe me, it looks at first as though it is, you know, irresistible force and immovable object.

What in my experience happens is that people find a way through and I think that if we approach this with sufficient patience and optimism, as I say, we can get this done and it is in the final furlong generally when the horses change places and the winning deal appears.

Henig thinks Johnson is wrong about this too.

  • Johnson and Merkel agreed that it would not be right to readmit Russia to the G7 now. Asked about this, Johnson said:

I am aware of the moves to reintegrate Russia into the G7 ... I just have to say that given what happened in Salisbury in Wiltshire, given the use of chemical weapons on British soil, given the continuing instability, civil war, the war in Ukraine, given Russia’s provocations, not just in Ukraine but in many other places, I must say I am very much with Chancellor Merkel in thinking that the case has yet to be made out for Russia to return to the G7.

And Merkel said:

As the situation is today I would say there is not yet sufficient progress for saying the reasons we had in 2014 [for excluding Russia] are obsolete.

That’s all from me for today.

Thanks for the comments.

Angela Merkel at her press conference with Boris Johnson.
Angela Merkel at her press conference with Boris Johnson. Photograph: Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters

Here is Jeremy Cliffe, the Economist’s Brussels bureau chief, and former Berlin correspondent, on the Merkel/Johnson press conference.

From my colleague Owen Gibson

Merkel gives Boris Johnson 30 days to come up with solution to backstop problem

Here is the “30 days” quote from Angela Merkel.

If one is able to solve this conundrum, if one finds this solution, we said we would probably find it in the next two years to come but we can also maybe find it in the next 30 days to come. Then we are one step further in the right direction and we have to obviously put our all into this.

A reader has been in touch to explain the German phrase that Boris Johnson used during the press conference that seemed to cause Angela Merkel some amusement. (See 5.30pm.)

Merkel/Johnson press conference - Verdict from the media

And this is what other journalists and commentators are saying about the press conference.

From the BBC’s Adam Fleming

From the BBC’s Nick Eardley

From the Eurasia consultancy’s Mujtaba Rahman

From Sky’s Rob Powell

From the Sun’s Tom Newton Dunn

From the BBC’s Jenny Hill

From the Telegraph’s Christopher Hope

I will post a summary of the main quotes from the press conference shortly.

Merkel/Johnson press conference - Snap verdict

Boris Johnson will be pleased with that. Angela Merkel has always been one of the EU leaders most solicitous towards the UK in the Brexit process, and this afternoon there was a very stark contrast between her tone and that adopted, for example, by the Irish European commissioner Phil Hogan (see 3.21pm) or the unnamed French government official briefing the media (see 3.45pm). She did not use any language critical of Johnson at all, and she stressed that she remained open to any solution that might provide a workable alternative to the backstop. At one point she talked about how it might be possible to find a solution within the next 30 days and Johnson - whose entire professional training revolved around quickly spotting a headline buried in Eurobabble - immediately flagged this up to journalists, implying this was his “win” from the press conference: “Merkel gives UK 30 days to solve Brexit.”

Whether this is anything more than cosmetic, though, remains to be seen. It may count for very little. Merkel’s tone was helpful, but on substance she gave nothing away at all. The fundamental problems are just the same as they have always been, there is nothing in the Alternative Arrangements Commission report cited by Johnson that has not already been closely studied by Brussels and rejected as an inadequate alternative to the backstop, and both parties are under pressure to appear reasonable because they do not want to take the blame for the inevitable voter backlash that would follow a no-deal Brexit. Theresa May’s first press conference with Donald Trump was deemed a success. But that turned out to be a very poor guide to how their relationship eventually developed.

Boris Johnson and Angela Merkel at the Chancellery in Berlin.
Boris Johnson and Angela Merkel at the Chancellery in Berlin. Photograph: Clemens Bilan/EPA

Updated

Johnson says he has watched a lot of EU negotiations.

What seems impossible at first - irresistible force meets immoveable object - turns out to be possible right at the end.

He says the solutions often coming in the final furlong, when the horses change places.

In response to a question on Russia, he says he has yet to be convinced that it is right for Russia to rejoin G7. He says this is one area where the UK and Germany agree.

And that’s it. Merkel says they have to get off to work.

Merkel suggests changes to political declaration could provide solutions to backstop problem

Q: Doesn’t the basis problem remain - the EU will not change its position, and the UK won’t either?

Merkel says that question cannot be answered today.

She says she sees “possibilities” through changes to the political declaration.

  • Merkel suggests changing the political declaration on the future UK-EU relationship could provide a solution to the backstop problem.

Johnson says he will be discussing alternatives to the backstop with Merkel. He refers to the “excellent” Alternative Arrangements Commission report which sets some of these out.

Johnson suggests May did not do enough to push alternatives to backstop

Johnson says under no circumstances will the UK impose checks at the border in Ireland.

The government thinks it can manage the border without checks, he says.

He says he is not attracted to having a time limit on the backstop. There are other flaws with it, he says.

  • Johnson says even with a time limit, the backstop would still be unacceptable.

He says the alternatives to the backstop have not been actively proposed over the last three years by the British government.

  • Johnson suggests May did not do enough to push alternatives to the backstop.

Merkel says the commission is negotiation on behalf of the EU 27.

The EU 27 want to have a uniform, consistent position, she says.

She says the UK also needs to say what its ideas are. She says it is not her job as German chancellor to understand all the issues relating to the Northern Ireland/Ireland border.

So it is up to the UK to suggest ideas, she says.

She says she wants to protect the integrity of the single market.

Q: [To Merkel] Why won’t you change the backstop when it won’t get through parliament?

Merkel says she follows the debate in the UK. She knows the problem.

But the backstop is there to solve a problem, she says.

She suggests that if another solution to the border problem could be found, she would be amenable. But she suggests it would have to be workable.

They have a lot to discuss tonight, she says.

Johnson says there is 'ample scope' to do Brexit deal

Q: [To Johnson] The EU says it will not renegotiate the withdrawal agreement. So will you compromise -or is this trip just posturing before you blame the EU?

Johnson says he thinks there is “ample scope” to do a deal.

  • Johnson says there is “ample scope” to do a Brexit deal.

He says the backstop “plainly has to go”.

But if we can get rid of it, we can make progress very quickly indeed, he says.

Boris Johnson says thank you for that “amazing welcome” he received.

He has not had one like that in his life, he says.

(He has never been abroad as prime minister, so that is not particularly surprising.)

Johnson says Germany and the UK are “shoulder to shoulder”. They work together in Nato, in tackling climate change, and in addressing the threats to the natural worl.

This evening they will discuss Russia, China, Iran, Hong Kong - and many other subjects.

And of course they are “fated” to discuss Brexit, he says.

He says he wants to stress that he believes he can get a deal. He uses a German word to make his point, which Merkel seems to find amusing.

But the UK cannot be trapped in the legal order of the EU without having any say in it, he says. That is why the backstop must be removed.

He says he is absolutely committed to the protection of the 3m EU nationals in the UK.

Back in the press conference Merkel says she and Johnson will be talking about foreign policy as well as about Brexit.

From my colleague Kate Connelly in Berlin

Merkel and Johnson hold press conference

Angela Merkel and Boris Johnson are holding their press conference.

Merkel says they have a lot on their plate to discuss.

She says she hopes and prays relations with the UK will continue to be friendly after Brexit.

From the Germany point of view, a negotiated Brexit would be welcome.

But Germany is also prepared for a no deal, she says.

Corbyn invites other opposition leaders to meeting next week to discuss stopping no-deal Brexit

Jeremy Corbyn has written to the leaders of other opposition parties, and to some backbenchers, inviting them to a meeting in his office next week to discuss what can be done to stop a no-deal Brexit.

According to Labour, his letter says:

Further to our correspondence last week, I would like to invite you to a meeting to discuss all tactics available to prevent no deal.

The country is heading into a constitutional and political storm, so it is vital that we meet urgently, before parliament returns.

The chaos and dislocation of Boris Johnson’s No Deal Brexit is real and threatening, as the government’s leaked Operation Yellowhammer dossier makes crystal clear. That’s why we must do everything we can to stop it.

I hope you are able to attend the meeting, which we will hold in my office on Tuesday 27th August at 12pm.

Please confirm your attendance by email.

Yours sincerely,

Jeremy Corbyn

The letter has gone to the following party or party group leaders at Westminster: Ian Blackford (SNP); Jo Swinson (Lib Dems); Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru); and Anna Soubry (the Independent Group for Change). It has also gone to the Green MP Caroline Lucas, the Tories Guto Bebb, Dominic Grieve and Oliver Letwin, and to the former Tory-turned-independent Nick Boles.

Jeremy Corbyn
Jeremy Corbyn Photograph: Joe Giddens/PA

Turning away from Berlin for a moment, the BBC’s Faisal Islam says that, when he was in Holyhead earlier, Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, said that the new government was revising the tariff schedule for a no-deal Brexit published earlier this year when Theresa May was PM.

The Operation Yellowhammer report leaked at the weekend said that the plan to have zero tariffs on oil imports in the event of a no-deal Brexit would lead to the closure of two refineries in the UK, because they would no longer be able to compete.

Boris Johnson and Angela Merkel at the Chancellery in Berlin.
Boris Johnson and Angela Merkel at the Chancellery in Berlin.
 Photograph: Axel Schmidt/Reuters

Boris Johnson and Angela Merkel will be holding a short press conference soon.

Setting for press conference
Setting for press conference Photograph: BBC News

Angela Merkel and Boris Johnson
Angela Merkel and Boris Johnson Photograph: BBC News

According to Sky’s Sam Coates, who is in Berlin, there were a few people protesting as Boris Johnson arrived.

Boris Johnson and Angela Merkel in Berlin
Boris Johnson and Angela Merkel in Berlin Photograph: Sky News

Boris Johnson has arrived.

Angela Merkel and Boris Johnson in Berlin
Angela Merkel and Boris Johnson in Berlin Photograph: Guardian

Merkel prepares to welcome Boris Johnson to Berlin

Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, has now arrived for the welcome ceremony.

There is a live feed at the top of this blog.

Angela Merkel preparing to welcome Boris Johnson
Angela Merkel preparing to welcome Boris Johnson Photograph: Guardian

Here are some pictures from Berlin, where the Germans are getting ready to welcome Boris Johnson who is due to arrive at the Chancellery quite soon.

The Union Jack being raised next to the EU flag ahead of Boris Johnson’s visit to the German Chancellery on his first foreign visit since taking office.
The Union Jack being raised next to the EU flag ahead of Boris Johnson’s visit to the German Chancellery on his first foreign visit since taking office. Photograph: Tobias Schwarz/AFP/Getty Images
The flags of Germany, Britain and EU flying (or not flying) outside the Chancellery.
The flags of Germany, Britain and EU flying (or not flying) outside the Chancellery. Photograph: Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters
Chairs being set out for Boris Johnson and Angela Merkel ahead of his arrival.
Chairs being set out for Boris Johnson and Angela Merkel ahead of his arrival. Photograph: Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters
Members of the public holding EU flags outside the Chancellery ahead of the meeting.
Members of the public holding EU flags outside the Chancellery ahead of the meeting. Photograph: Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters

No-deal Brexit now the most likely outcome, France says

France believes a no deal exit is now the “most likely” Brexit scenario after Johnson demanded the EU reopen the withdrawal agreement and drop the Irish backstop. A French official said:

If the UK considers that having a backstop is absolutely excluded, that is its right, but in that case it limits the possibility of reaching an agreement.

The official added:

The idea of saying ‘there’s not a deal, so I won’t pay’ does not work. We cannot imagine that a country like the UK would back out of an international commitment.

The Elysee Palace in Paris
The Elysee Palace in Paris Photograph: Eric Feferberg/AFP/Getty Images

From Bloomberg’s Jess Shankleman

This is from Jenny Hill, the BBC’s Berlin correspondent.

UK will still have to pay £39bn to EU even in event of no-deal Brexit, France claims

Reuters has some more news alerts from the French government briefing also attended by Bloomberg. (See 3.26pm.) They’re capped up, because that’s how Reuters sends them out on the news wires.

EU POSITION ON BREXIT WON’T CHANGE EVEN IN CASE OF PRESSURE FROM TRUMP - FRENCH OFFICIAL

EVEN IN CASE OF NO-DEAL, EU WILL CONSIDER BREXIT BILL TO BE DUE - FRENCH OFFICIAL

EU WOULD PROBABLY ACCEPT TO GRANT BRITAIN A DELAY ON BREXIT TO HOLD NEW ELECTIONS - FRENCH OFFICIAL

BRITAIN SHOULD HAVE NO DOUBT FRANCE, GERMANY AND OTHER EU COUNTRIES ARE TOTALLY UNITED - FRENCH OFFICIAL

Boris Johnson is meeting Emmanuel Macron, the French president, tomorrow, and this briefing will ratchet up the tension in advance.

The point about the Brexit bill is particularly important. Johnson has repeatedly said that, in the event of a no-deal Brexit, the government will have an extra £39bn (the Brexit bill payable to the EU) available - even though his own attorney general, Geoffrey Cox, has said that this is not true.

The French government is now working on the assumption that a no-deal Brexit is the most likely outcome, Bloomberg is reporting.

'Unelected PM ... gambling with peace' - Irish European commissioner launches fierce attack on Boris Johnson

Phil Hogan, the European commissioner for agriculture and an Irish politician from Leo Varadkar’s Fine Gael party, has launched what the Irish Independent (rightly) describes as a “scathing attack” on Boris Johnson. He was speaking this morning at an event in Carlingford in Ireland. Hogan’s own account of his message on Twitter is bland and unexceptional.

But the Irish Independent’s Hugh O’Connell has filed a report based on a text of what Hogan was planning to say, and the quotes are very strong. Here are the main points.

  • Hogan said that a no-deal Brexit would create a “foul atmosphere” between the UK and the EU. He said:

If the UK fails to prevent a crash-out Brexit they should be under no illusion regarding the foul atmosphere they will create with their EU partners and the serious consequences this will have for negotiating any future trade agreement.

  • He accused Johnson of “gambling with peace” in relation to Northern Ireland.
  • He cited Churchill - one of Johnson’s hero - to explain why a no-deal Brexit would be do damaging. Hogan said:

The UK government needs to take responsibility for its choices before it is too late. Prime Minister Johnson’s hero is Winston Churchill and he seems to view himself as a modern day Churchill.

However, in the event of a no deal Brexit, the UK government’s only Churchilian legacy will be –‘never have so few done so much damage to so many’.

  • Hogan dismissed Johnson as an “unelected prime minister”. EU leaders have been angered by Johnson’s decision to describe the backstop as “undemocratic”, despite the fact that it was agreed by EU leaders and Theresa May, implementing a commitment made by the UK government in the joint report of December 2017 when Johnson was foreign secretary. Johnson explained his reason for using the term in his letter (pdf) to Donald Tusk, the European council president, on Monday. Hogan said this was a “strange” decision coming from “an unelected prime minister”. (Johnson became PM after 92,000 Tory members voted for him in a leadership contest, not after winning a general election.) Hogan went on:

We should recall that the backstop was agreed by a prime minister who was democratically elected.

  • Hogan said the EU “will not buckle” in response to pressure from the UK. He said:

From the EU side, nothing has changed. We will hold the line. We have made detailed contingency plans for every outcome and we will not be found wanting. Contrary to what the UK government may wish, the EU will not buckle.

Our response to Prime Minister Johnson’s letter is simple: We share his stated commitment to an orderly Brexit and to upholding the Good Friday agreement. We reiterate that the backstop is a necessary, legally operative solution to prevent the return of a hard border on the island of Ireland and we deeply regret that the new UK government wants to replace a legally operative solution with a commitment to try to find a solution - yet to be found- by the end of the transition period.

  • He accused Johnson of putting “the best interests of the Tory Party ahead of the best interests of the UK”.
  • He said, three years after the vote to leave the EU, Brussels still did not know what kind of Brexit Britain wanted. He said:

More than three years on from the referendum, we still have no clear idea about what kind of Brexit the UK wants. And the UK is running out of time to make up its mind.

Phil Hogan
Phil Hogan Photograph: Michael Gottschalk/Photothek via Getty Images

This is from my colleague Jennifer Rankin in Brussels.

Speaking during his visit to the port of Holyhead Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister in charge of no-deal Brexit planning, was also asked what he thought the chances of no deal were. He replied:

Different people put a different statistical likelihood on it. My view is that there is a chance that it might happen therefore we need to be ready for it and many of the things that we would do anyway as we leave the single market and the customs union we would do or need to do in the event of leaving without a deal.

He also stressed that “goodwill on all sides” would be required for the “alternative arrangements” favoured by the government as a replacement for the backstop in Northern Ireland to work. He explained:

There are a series of particular facilitations and easements that can be introduced alongside technology which can help ensure that we have as effective a flow of goods over the Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland border as businesses will need.

It all depends on the willingness of the EU, in particular the European commission, to commit to making sure that some of the work that’s already being done is expedited.

Asked if it would be possible for that work to be done before October 31, Gove replied:

If the EU commit to this approach then it’s perfectly possible for us to have a transition or implementation period and then to work on all the steps that are required in order to give confidence that we can continue to have a solution of the island of Ireland that works in everyone’s interest.

Michael Gove during his visit to Holyhead port
Michael Gove during his visit to Holyhead port Photograph: Peter Byrne/PA

As the anti-Brexit campaign group, Led By Donkeys, has been pointing out this month, Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister in charge of no-deal Brexit planning, has in the past admitted that no deal would be undesirable.

Today, on a visit to Holyhead in Wales, where he was inspecting Brexit planning at the port, he stressed that he still wanted a deal with the EU. Asked about his previous comments about a no-deal Brexit, he told the BBC:

Well, we have to leave. We voted to leave ... I’ve made it clear throughout that we have to honour the vote. Politicians don’t get to choose the votes that they honour. People voted to leave. It is better to leave with a deal. That is the government’s policy. But if the choice is no Brexit or Brexit and no deal, then I would choose Brexit and no deal, and I’ve always been clear on that point.

Michael Gove
Michael Gove Photograph: BBC News

EU net migration to the UK is higher than previously thought, the Office for National Statistics has admitted, prompting experts to claim that the numbers have been “systematically” under-estimated. As the Press Association reports, the ONS said it under-estimated levels of EU migration to the UK, affecting figures on the number of migrants from EU8 countries - like Poland - since 2016. Migration from countries outside the EU has been over-stated, the ONS added. In an announcement it said:

In the year ending March 2016 - the latest point at which we have adjusted data available - EU net migration is around 16% higher than our published estimate.

In the year ending March 2016, net migration is around 13% lower than our published estimate.

As a result the ONS has downgraded the status of its quarterly immigration figures it compiles to “experimental”, the Press Association reports.

Boris Johnson has been making a series of election-style announcements since he became prime minister, and Number 10 must have been hoping to see Conservative poll ratings lift as a result. The evidence suggests he is having some effect. In a post on his UK Polling Report blog yesterday Anthony Wells listed the five August polls then available, all giving the Tories a lead over Labour varying from three points to nine points. “We’re now at a point where the most recent polls from all the regular polling companies show the Conservatives back ahead,” Wells wrote.

Since then there have been two more polls giving the Tories a big lead. Last night YouGov released a second August poll, putting the Conservatives on 30% and Labour on 21%. And today Kantar has released a poll suggesting the Tories are 14 points ahead. It puts them on 42%, with Labour on 28%, the Lib Dems on 15% and the Brexit party on 5%.

Jo Swinson, the new Lib Dem leader, has appointed what she describes as a shadow cabinet (which is not to be confused with the shadow cabinet, the one appointed by Jeremy Corbyn). Sir Ed Davey, her rival for the leadership, will speak for the party on Treasury and business matters. Chuka Umunna, the former Labour MP who had been holding the Treasury brief, will speak for the party on foreign affairs, international development and international trade. And Christine Jardine will speak for the party will speak for the party on home affairs, justice and equalities.

Sir Vince Cable, the former leader, will speak for the party on health and social care.

The full list of appointments is here.

The EU27 are united over Brexit, the European commission said today. At its regular daily briefing, commenting on Boris Johnson’s meetings with Angela Merkel this evening and Emmanuel Macron tomorrow, the commission spokeswoman, Natasha Bertaud, said:

It’s normal that our member states meet and talk to one another.

Beyond this, the EU27 have had from the outset - and continue to have now - one single, united position on Brexit matters.

Updated

A major critic of the HS2 scheme has been appointed deputy chair of the government review of its viability launched today, my colleague Gwyn Topham reports. Lord Berkeley, a railway expert and Labour peer, has repeatedly challenged the Department for Transport’s cost figures and warned that the budgets were spiralling out of control.

Here is Gwyn’s story.

Number 10 is knocking down the Sun story claiming Boris Johnson would like Ireland to temporarily derogate from the EU single market (see 10.17am), according to the Brexit specialist Mujtaba Rahman from the Eurasia consultancy.

A former German ambassador to the UK, Thomas Matussek, told the Today programme this morning, that British ministers could be “in for a nasty surprise” if they think the EU will make Brexit concessions at the last minute.

Asked about the possibility of the EU backing down, he said:

Well I think this time it might be wrong [to assume the EU will shift at the last minute] because I think it’s important, if you try to put yourself into the shoes of your partner, and the clear assessment of the interests of both sides indicate that there are certain issues on which the EU cannot budge and these are the four freedoms. So I think they might be in for a nasty surprise.

The EU was committed to the backstop, he explained.

We cannot throw Ireland under the bus. What message would that send to other members of the EU family if we gave up that sort of loyalty and solidarity?

Gerald Vernon-Jackson, the leader of Portsmouth council, has called the government’s £9m no-deal funding pledge to councils “too little, too late” and said his own council alone had spent £4m preparing the port for potentially thousands more lorries attempting to exit, my colleague Jessica Elgot reports.

No-deal Brexit becoming 'far more likely', says Irish deputy PM

Simon Coveney, Ireland’s deputy prime minister and minister for foreign affairs, told RTE’s Radio One this morning that a no-deal Brexit was becoming “far more likely”. He explained:

There is a consequence to the approach that the British government is taking and that consequence is that they are making a no-deal far more likely.

There is a reason why Boris Johnson is visiting Berlin today and Paris tomorrow, to try to talk to EU leaders about finding a way forward.

I think he will get a very consistent message from EU leaders that the negotiations over the last two to three years are not going to be abandoned now.

We will try and find a way to give the reassurance and clarification that Boris Johnson needs to sell a deal.

We will try and be imaginative about that and be helpful on that.

Coveney also insisted that Ireland would not abandon the backstop just on the basis of a “promise” from Boris Johnson that the UK and the EU might find an alternative means of avoiding a hard border in the future. He said:

We are not going to abandon a solution that we know works for some kind of promise on the basis of trust that we will all work together to try and find a solution and muddle on in the future to solve the border.

If we do that, what we will be doing is we will creating collateral damage in Ireland to solve a problem in Westminster and for the next number of years, the border issue will dominate Irish politics, north and south because we haven’t resolved it in the way we that know we can.

We are not in the business of facilitating the UK effectively moving away from commitments they have made to Ireland and the EU to protect the Good Friday agreement, to protect an all-island economy, and to replace that with some sort of make-shift deal in the weeks before a no-deal, that isn’t what we are going to do.

Simon Coveney
Simon Coveney Photograph: Mikhail Japaridze/TASS

Updated

Future of HS2 in doubt as Shapps announces review into whether it should proceed

During the Tory leadership contest Boris Johnson said he wanted to review the case for HS2. That review is now going ahead. Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, has announced it in a statement this morning. The review will be conducted by the former HS2 Ltd chairman Douglas Oakervee and it will the consider “whether and how HS2 should proceed”. The full terms of reference are here (pdf).

Shapps said:

The prime minister has been clear that transport infrastructure has the potential to drive economic growth, redistribute opportunity and support towns and cities across the UK, but that investments must be subject to continuous assessment of their costs and benefits. That’s why we are undertaking this independent and rigorous review of HS2.

Douglas Oakervee and his expert panel will consider all the evidence available, and provide the department with clear advice on the future of the project.

The terms of reference make it clear that cancelling the whole project would be an option.

During the leadership contest there were claims that, in his private meetings with Tory MPs, Johnson was giving some of them the impression that he wanted to continue with HS2, while leaving others with the impression that he wanted to scrap the project.

An artist’s impression of an HS2 train on the Birmingham and Fazeley viaduct.
An artist’s impression of an HS2 train on the Birmingham and Fazeley viaduct. Photograph: HS2/PA

Updated

On the subject of the backstop, Jon Sopel, the BBC’s North America editor, has an imaginative solution.

Sopel is, of course, joking. But, according to the Sun’s Tom Newton Dunn, Boris Johnson is considering a plan almost as improbable. Newton Dunn says the PM believes the backstop problem could be solved not by Northern Ireland remaining in the EU single market, but by Ireland leaving it (temporarily). Perhaps this is a joke too, but these days it is getting hard to tell ...

Norbert Röttgen, chair of the German parliament’s foreign affairs committee and an Angela Merkel ally, has used Twitter this morning to restate his view (reported in our overnight story) that Boris Johnson would have been better off not writing the letter to Donald Tusk released on Monday.

Robert Jenrick, a former Treasury minister, was promoted to the cabinet as housing secretary after supporting Boris Johnson enthusiastically in the Tory leadership contest. But his performance on the Today programme this morning is getting some harsh reviews on Twitter.

From the former Sun editor David Yelland

From the Times columnist David Aaronovitich

From the Labour MP Barry Sheerman

From the former Labour Europe minister Denis MacShane

Boris Johnson prepares to visit Berlin as minister struggles to defend his 'collaboration' jibe

Boris Johnson is making his first visit abroad as prime minister today when he visits Berlin for dinner with the German chancellor, Angela Merkel. What could possibly go wrong? Well, Basil Fawlty-style, he could start banging on about the second world war. It would not be entirely out of character. During the EU referendum campaign three years ago Johnson provoked criticism by saying that the EU had the same goal as Hitler in wanting to create an European superstate, and only last month one of Johnson’s Tory Brexiter allies was complaining in the Commons about Germany being too powerful.

In reality, it is hard to imagine Johnson being quite that crass. But the war still has a powerful grip on the British public imagination (it is hard to understand the Brexit vote without reference to the second world war’s place in the national story) and this surfaced again only last week when Johnson claimed there was “a terrible collaboration going on between people who think they can block Brexit in parliament and our European friends”. Readers from abroad may struggle to understand what the fuss was about, but in the UK, particularly for anyone over the age of 50, it is impossible to hear the word “collaborator” without associating it with supporting the Nazis.

That explains why Robert Jenrick, the housing secretary, had problems this morning when John Humprhys asked him on the Today programme if he supported Johnson’s use of the word last week. At first Jenrick tried to reframe the question, saying:

The point that the prime minister was making, which I 100% agree with ...

Humphrys tried again. Did Jenrick agree with the use of the word collaboration? Jenrick replied:

I agree with the prime minister ... It is not in the national interest, at this moment in time, to undermine the prime minister’s hand as we enter this period of negotiations.

Humphrys asked a third time if Jenrick viewed Tory MPs opposed to a no-deal Brexit as collaborators. Jenrick replied:

What I’m saying is that all members of parliament, particularly Conservatives, need to support the prime minister to help us in these final preparations ...

Humphrys pointed out that Jenrick was continuing to avoid the question. For a fourth time, he asked if Jenrick was supporting the PM. Jenrick replied:

I’m explaining the prime minister’s words, which I 100% support. I’ve always believed that you have to give the prime minister the strongest hand, he can have in these negotiations. And that means ensuring that we leave on 31 October. That is the only route to a real renegotiation in the weeks ahead.

So Jenrick claimed that he 100% supported Johnson’s language – even though he obviously didn’t, because he was not willing to use the word collaborator.

What Jenrick did do, though, was repeat the claim made by Johnson yesterday that Tory MPs opposed to a no-deal Brexit were undermining the PM’s renegotiation.

Johnson is due in Berlin at about 5pm UK time. Here is my colleague Philip Oltermann’s preview story.

There is not a lot else in the diary today, although Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, is visiting Holyhead port to review preparations for a no-deal Brexit.

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. 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.

Robert Jenrick, the housing secretary.
Robert Jenrick, the housing secretary. Photograph: Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images

Updated

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