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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2019/oct/01/brexit-latest-news-boris-johnson-conservative-conference-interviewed-as-ireland-dismisses-uk-border-plan-as-non-starter-live-news
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Brexit: Dover could lose £1bn worth of trade a week under no deal, Tory fringe told - live news | |
(32 minutes later) | |
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. | |
"It's above my pay grade."Boris Johnson responds to why he won't be speaking to Channel 4 News today, despite agreeing to interviews with other major broadcasters. pic.twitter.com/hnu7cqztKk | |
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 | |
NEW: Some kind of incident in the International Lounge of Conservative Party conference. Police, close protection and paramedics in attendance. @LBC pic.twitter.com/95r3Ghqy5l | |
Police moving press away from incident pic.twitter.com/pYAGnR0zEI | |
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. | |
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. | 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. | 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). | |
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. | 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. | At the Tory conference there is an expectation that the plans will be submitted to the EU tomorrow. |
From Channel 4 News’ Jon Snow | From Channel 4 News’ Jon Snow |
Channel 4 News cameraman Neil Corbett grabs a telling moment https://t.co/k26ZiM3LfT | Channel 4 News cameraman Neil Corbett grabs a telling moment https://t.co/k26ZiM3LfT |
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. | 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: | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. |
Boris Johnson has denied that UK proposed checks 5-10 miles away from border.But EU sources say that was gist of customs non paper.EU hopes it will be superseded by "serious proposals", though not banking on them.https://t.co/efVcM3Lcho | Boris Johnson has denied that UK proposed checks 5-10 miles away from border.But EU sources say that was gist of customs non paper.EU hopes it will be superseded by "serious proposals", though not banking on them.https://t.co/efVcM3Lcho |
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. | 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. | 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.) | 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.) |
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. | 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. |
Boris Johnson's plans for Irish border checks threaten Brexit talks | Boris Johnson's plans for Irish border checks threaten Brexit talks |
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. | 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. |
Turns out Boris Johnson's PR spending at City Hall was actually *higher* than Sadiq Khan's. Awkward. https://t.co/Se9DT4N4bi | Turns out Boris Johnson's PR spending at City Hall was actually *higher* than Sadiq Khan's. Awkward. https://t.co/Se9DT4N4bi |
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. | 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.” | 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. | 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.” | “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.” |