British Government publishes Brexit Backstop proposals it has sent to the EU and accompanying letter

a reply to: contextual

Am listening to him right now in Parliament.

Its very obvious what's going on, Boris wants to say he tried to get a deal, knowing full well that its a deal that the EU will never agree to and its completely unrealistic I think to expect them to agree to it at the next summit. This is just an excuse for Boris to say "look I offered them a deal, the said no, it's the EU's fault".

Like I said he is just going through the motions, there is no chance this will pass through the EU in time, it's just not going to happen its just about him saving face saying I offered a deal and they said no.

EDIT:

Just to also add, something that I have to give credit to Boris for is this, his tone just now is just more civil and he is actually speaking very well, seems to be listening to other members and isn't just shouting across the aisle. Hope it keeps up.

a reply to: OtherSideOfTheCoin

The problem is one of intractable EU "principles". The EU won't compromise and expect the UK to make all the concessions, including sacrificing Northern Ireland and compromising the integrity of the UK. The EU (bizarrely¬¬¬¬ with the support of the Republic of Ireland) are willing to compromise the Republic's economy through a hard Brexit and through their inflexibility create what they have sated they don’t want – a border between the Republic and Norther Ireland.

The EU has lack imagination and flexibility. I cannot believe all member states believe that this level of intransigence is helpful, because all they will end up doing is setting the scene for difficult relations post Brexit.

Of course, the EU still want Brexit to fail, so that cynical aspect needs to be factored into their planning. They have been playing some Remainers like puppets.

a reply to: paraphi

I think the EU's attitude is that they need to protect the boarder around their trading territory.

This is hardly something that is unreasonable, the UK should also be looking to protect our boarders its just unfortunate that the Irish boarder presents some unique challenges that so far nobody has been able to resolve but something is needed. I highly doubt that this proposal from Boris will pass the EU, let alone parliament but time will tell.