Boris Johnson news: PM to prorogue parliament again amid EU concern over ‘problematic points’ in new Brexit border plan

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Boris Johnson launches attack parliament by accusing it of 'refusing to do anything constructive'

Boris Johnson’s government has now published details of proposals for a withdrawal agreement to take the UK out of the EU by the end of the month, but the European Commission quickly said that “problematic points” remained in the prime minister’s plans.

Emerging after the PM’s conference speech, the proposals drew swift criticism as “problematic” and failing to safeguard the interests of people and traders on the island of Ireland. “A lot of work is needed,” said Michel Barnier, while noting the concrete offer did constitute progress.

Mr Johnson’s plan, which he billed as a compromise for the UK, would mean customs checks on trade between Northern Ireland and the Republic as well as a regulatory control border down the Irish Sea. One manufacturers’ pressure group described the scheme, which would effectively create two borders, as “worse than no deal”.

The PM used his conference speech to say the UK must deliver Brexit because voters feel they’re being “taken for fools”. And attacking parliament, he claimed MPs “would have been voted out of the jungle by now” if politics was a reality TV show.

In the early evening, Downing Street confirmed plans to prorogue parliament again ahead of a new Queen’s Speech on 14 October.

While the Tory conference drew to a close in Manchester, the debate on the domestic violence bill continued in Westminster. Labour’s Rosie Duffield won praise for, and brought her colleagues to tears with, her account of her own experience of coercive control.

Key Points

• Government publishes Brexit plan
• No10 plans new suspension of parliament
• 40% of Britons say Brexit has affected their mental health
• Problems remain in PM's plans, says Juncker

[2 October 2019 20:53 · Chiara.Giordano]

Boris Johnson is being accused of deliberately avoiding prime minister's questions by proroguing parliament again.

Labour MP Liz McInnes tweeted: "Why is Boris Johnson so scared of PMQs? Seems to me he'll do anything to get out of it - he's only done it once since he became prime minister."

[2 October 2019 21:12 · Jon Sharman]

Only an irresponsible fool would confect the accusation of treachery, writes Matthew Norman.

Any doubt about this died yesterday at the bijou hand of the president. Trump concluded a typically thoughtful dawn chorus tweet by demanding that the Democrat leading the congressional investigation into his diplomatic dealings with Ukraine be questioned about treason.

Here, we are more circumspect with the language, as the Mail on Sunday confirmed the previous day. It studiously avoided the T word when filling its front and inside pages with a subtler take on the same accusation.

[2 October 2019 21:29 · Jon Sharman]

Scientists have attacked Boris Johnson’s claim that an Oxfordshire facility is “on the verge” of creating commercially viable fusion reactors, saying the technology is decades away, and poses a distraction from the government’s failure to cut emissions, writes Phoebe Weston.

In the prime minister’s Conservative party conference speech he referred to a fusion reactor called the Joint European Torus (JET) at Culham that he claimed would soon provide “virtually unlimited zero-carbon power”.

However, according to the organisation’s own website, commercialising this process will take another 30 to 40 years.

[2 October 2019 21:40 · Jon Sharman]

Looks like the domestic violence bill will not be affected by the planned second prorogation.

It comes after Rosie Duffield gave a moving account of her own experience of coercive control.

[2 October 2019 21:55 · Jon Sharman]

Boris Johnson’s plan to take the UK out of the European Union at the end of this month would impose two new borders on Northern Ireland, to the horror of local businesses, writes Andrew Woodcock.

The UK proposal to replace the controversial backstop, presented to the EU on Wednesday, would mean customs checks on trade between Northern Ireland and the Republic as well as a regulatory control border down the Irish Sea.

European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker warned the prime minister that there were “problematic points” in his offer, while the head of the European Parliament’s Brexit steering group Guy Verhofstadt said it was “absolutely not positive” and did not provide the necessary safeguards for Ireland.

[2 October 2019 22:11 · Jon Sharman]

Veteran MP Roger Godsiff has become the third Labour politician to face a battle for his seat after activists voted to trigger a reselection ballot, writes Lizzy Buchan.

Labour members in Birmingham Hall Green voted against automatically choosing Mr Godsiff as their next parliamentary candidate, paving the way for an open contest in the constituency.

Mr Godsiff has come under pressure over his stance on LGBT+ education after he gave his backing to demonstrators outside a Birmingham primary school, who oppose lessons for young children on same-sex relationships.

[2 October 2019 22:27 · Jon Sharman]

Shocking statistics showing that two homeless people died every day in England and Wales last year have sparked renewed calls for action to prevent such deaths, writes Lizzie Dearden.

But while the government has emphasised its introduction of a new law and national strategy to combat rough sleeping, grassroots organisations say current efforts come “nowhere near” replacing the funding lost over years of austerity.

The Office for National Statistics counted 726 homeless deaths in 2018 but said the number may be even higher. The figure is a 22 per cent rise on 2017, while deaths related to drug poisoning rocketed by 55 per cent in the year.

[2 October 2019 22:41 · Jon Sharman]

Was the former chancellor, Philip Hammond, right to accuse Boris Johnson of being backed by speculators who have bet billions on a hard Brexit, and expect to profit from the disastrous effects of crashing out of the EU without a deal?

Hedge fund manager Crispin Odey, something of a City pantomime villain, was moved to inelegantly dismiss suggestions that he donated to Johnson in order to profit from a no deal outcome as “crap” in the pages of the Financial Times, writes James Moore.

[2 October 2019 22:46 · Jon Sharman]

The view from the hard-Brexiteer wing of the Conservative party: