The hardening of Boris Johnson’s language on the backstop, ruling out a time limit or a unilateral exit clause, marks a dramatic turn that makes a no-deal Brexit more likely. Optimists believed that in office Johnson could move towards a demand on the backstop that the EU would regard as negotiable. The EU was always likely to hold rigidly throughout August and September to its position that the withdrawal agreement could not be renegotiated. By rejecting these changes as inadequate and insisting that the backstop must be ripped out in its entirety, Johnson appears to be setting a course for a no-deal Brexit. But perhaps Johnson’s language on the backstop means something else.

Source: The Irish Times July 16, 2019 18:47 UTC