EU rejects Boris Johnson's offer.

The European Union has rebuffed Boris Johnson’s attempts to tear up the Irish backstop, in a coordinated response that appeared to close the door on further meaningful Brexit negotiations.

In remarks shortly before the prime minister departed for a whistle-stop tour to meet European leaders, Johnson put the blame for the EU’s hardline response at the feet of Conservative rebels, claiming his negotiating strategy was being undermined by those who said they could prevent no deal.

The president of the European council, Donald Tusk, accused the British government of failing to admit that its policies would lead to the return of a hard border on the island of Ireland.

As the standoff played out, the government confirmed that British officials would stop attending most EU meetings from 1 September, a move denounced by critics as showing contempt for British influence in Brussels and allies across Europe.

  Johnson suggested the EU’s position was influenced by the manoeuvres of Conservative MPs who have been examining legislative methods to stop no deal in the House of Commons, including former cabinet ministers like Philip Hammond.

  

Downing Street has insisted that leaving on 31 October cannot be stopped by any means, even if parliament were to pass legislation.

“One thing that slightly, I think, complicates the picture is that our EU friends still clearly think that there is a possibility that parliament will block Brexit,” the prime minister said. “And as long as they think there’s a possibility that parliament will block Brexit they are unlikely to be minded to make the concessions that we need. So it is going to take a bit of patience.”

The standoff set the stage for tense encounters between Johnson and Angela Merkel in Berlin and Emmanuel Macron in Paris, before a gathering of G7 leaders on Saturday.

The German chancellor is expected to dismiss Johnson’s call to scrap the backstop when she meets him on Wednesday.

“The letter to the president of the European council is not a serious offer, and Boris Johnson knows it,” said Norbert Röttgen, an ally of Merkel who heads the Bundestag’s foreign affairs committee. “If Johnson really wanted to achieve something on his visits to Paris and Berlin, he would have been well advised against writing this letter.”

The Guardian.