It’s looking like extension or bust. In his letter to EU Commission President Jean-Claude Junker, Mr Johnson described the backstop as a “bridge to nowhere” but then went on to offer the EU a dead-end route. Mr Johnson’s letter put forward the idea of an all-island regulatory zone covering goods including agrifood. Mr Johnson suggested that all customs processes between North and South could happen on a “decentralised basis” and paperwork would be done electronically. The address was a clear prelude to an election campaign in which Mr Johnson sparked laughter with jibes about his political rivals and roused the party with fighting talk.

Source: Irish Examiner October 02, 2019 23:03 UTC