London, Oct 10: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will hold a meeting with Ireland’s Prime Minister Leo Varadkar to discuss the United Kingdom (UK) Brexit proposal to leave the European Union (EU) as scheduled on October 31.
Downing Street has said the meeting is expected to have “detailed discussions” over the complete process of security an arrangement with the bloc.
Johnson has stated he stays “cautiously optimistic” about reaching a Brexit deal with the EU. However, on Wednesday, the EU officials blamed the UK for putting forth untested ideas, further adding the progress made towards a new agreement had been limited.
Moreover, a similar statement was expressed by Ireland prime minister on Tuesday, who suggested the process of reaching a Brexit arrangement for the UK to leave the EU ahead of the Oct 31 deadline would be “very difficult”.
According to BBC, the meeting between the two pioneers is expected to take place in northwestern England, with Johnson reiterating its stance of withdrawing the UK from the bloc with or without a Brexit deal, if necessary, by the end of this month.
Last week, Johnson put forth the latest version of the Brexit deal, but Varadkar has stated “big gaps” still remain the same between the EU and the UK.
Former Tory chancellor Philip Hammond blamed Johnson for tabling a Brexit proposal that “is not going to fly, and was never going to fly”.
“Much of it is stuff which has already been tried with the EU in the past and rejected in the past,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
The EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, believed “with goodwill” on two sides there could be a deal in the run-up to the bloc’s summit later October.
But he added: “To put things very frankly and to try to be objective, we are not really in a position where we are able to find an agreement.” He continued as it stood, Britain was putting forth a deal to replace an “operable, practical and legal solution” in order to prevent a hard Irish border with “one that is simply a temporary solution”.