Is Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal dead?

A Brexit deal with the EU is “overwhelmingly unlikely”, according to a No. 10 source.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke to Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, this morning about the proposals put forward by the UK Government to the EU, says the BBC.

Merkel told Johnson that a deal that did not leave Northern Ireland in the customs union would never be possible, according to an anonymous Downing Street source.

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“Merkel said the UK cannot leave without leaving Northern Ireland behind in a customs union and in full alignment forever,” the source told gathered journalists, adding that a deal looked “essentially impossible not just now but ever”.

The source said the call with Merkel was a “clarifying moment”, Sky News reports.

“She made clear a deal is overwhelmingly unlikely and she thinks the EU has a veto on us leaving the customs union,” they added.–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––For more political analysis - and a concise, refreshing and balanced take on the week’s news agenda - try The Week magazine. Get your first six issues free–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

The Government set out its proposals for a renegotiated Brexit deal last week, with Johnson claiming he wanted to reach a deal by 31 October.

But Brussels officials were reportedly so shocked by the suggested deal that they asked if it was a mistake, says the Daily Mirror.

Labour called Johnson’s plans a “cynical attempt to sabotage the negotiations”.

Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer said Johnson “will never take responsibility for his own failure to put forward a credible deal”, adding Parliament must “prevent this reckless government crashing us out of the EU”.

And Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted that “The UK government’s attempt to shift the blame for the Brexit fiasco to anyone but themselves - today it’s Merkel - is pathetically transparent.”

But DUP leader Arlene Foster criticised Merkel’s insistence that Northern Ireland stays in the EU customs union: “For the United Kingdom to be asked to leave a part of its sovereign territory in a foreign organisation, of which the UK would no longer be a part, and over which we would have no say whatsoever, is beyond crazy,” The Guardian reports.

The Spectator published a long briefing from No. 10 last night, saying “if this deal dies in the next few days, then it won’t be revived” and any sincere co-operation between the UK and EU “will be in the toilet”.

Johnson tweeted a video this morning, just before the call with Merkel, in which he claimed: “We’ll leave the European Union on October 31st. Clearly that’s what the people of this country voted for, I think most people want just to get Brexit done.”