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Brexit: Boris Johnson dismisses leaked UK border plan rejected by Dublin as out-of-date - live news Brexit: Boris Johnson dismisses leaked UK border plan rejected by Dublin as out-of-date - live news
(32 minutes later)
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.
Johnson says he does not know how Naga Munchetty is, or what the story about her being reprimanded by the BBC was all about.
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.
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”.
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?Q: Are you asking EU leaders to rule out a Brexit extension?
Johnson says he has not made any such request.Johnson says he has not made any such request.
But he says he thinks EU leaders do want this sorted.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?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.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?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 UK is doing things that are not in the interests of the UK.Johnson says the UK is doing things that are not in the interests of the UK.
Q: So you will veto things they want?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: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.I am a pro-European. I actually love Europe.
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?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.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”.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.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.Johnson claims UK has already compromised more on backstop than people realise.
Nick Robinson is interviewing Boris Johnson on Today.Nick Robinson is interviewing Boris Johnson on Today.
Q: Will you be ringing EU leaders today about your plans?Q: Will you be ringing EU leaders today about your plans?
Johnson says he has been making calls.Johnson says he has been making calls.
He has seen some leaked plans, possibly leaked by Brussels, that are not quite right.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?Q: So the report about having customs clearances sites away from the border are not true?
Johnson says that is correct.Johnson says that is correct.
It would not make sense to have a new border away from the border.It would not make sense to have a new border away from the border.
Q: But people say there have to be checks somewhere?Q: But people say there have to be checks somewhere?
Johnson says he accepts that.Johnson says he accepts that.
He says the UK is coming up to the point of decision.He says the UK is coming up to the point of decision.
A single, united country must have its own customs territory.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.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.Robinson says Johnson can come back and discuss his plans when they are published. Johnson does not reject the idea.
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.
Here are the Boris Johnson interviews coming up.
7.45am - BBC Breakfast
8.10am - Today programme
8.30am - LBC
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.
Boris Johnson's 'secret Irish border plans' dismissed as non-starter
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.
Here is Tony Connelly’s full RTE story on the leaked plans.
Simon Coveney, the Irish foreign minister and deputy prime minister, has rejected the proposals.
Non-Paper = Non-Starter. Time the EU had a serious proposal from the UK Govt if a #Brexit deal is to be achievable in October. NI and IRE deserves better!
Robert Buckland, the justice secretary, has said the plans leaked to RTE are just “preliminary documents”.
Buckland on Ireland’s rejection of the draft proposals:“They’re v much preliminary documents and only cover a part of the arrangements of the Irish border... not the be all and end all”. Part of the process not the final piece of the jigsaw
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.
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