EU tells UK to stop 'wasting time' and find Irish border solution within two weeks

'I know what the rules of party politics are. But now, once the Tory conference is over, we should get down to business', says European Council president

The EU has told the UK to stop “wasting time” and find a solution to the Irish border row, with just two weeks until the next showdown summit over Brexit.

Donald Tusk, the European Council president, turned his fire on Jeremy Hunt for likening the EU to the Soviet Union – accusing ministers of rousing the Tory faithful, instead of striving to reach an agreement.

“Unacceptable remarks that raise the temperature will achieve nothing except wasting more time,” Mr Tusk said.

“I was a party leader myself for 15 years, so I know what the rules of party politics are. But now, once the Tory conference is over, we should get down to business.”

Speaking alongside Leo Varadkar, the Irish president, Mr Tusk made clear the EU remained “united behind Ireland” in its determination to prevent a return to border posts and checks.

But he also made clear his anger at the delay to Theresa May’s promised fresh border proposals – linking it to a reluctance to risk a backlash at the Tory conference.

In Birmingham, Mr Hunt, the foreign secretary, triggered fury across the EU by accusing it of trying to keep the UK in a “prison” with behaviour similar to the Soviet Union.

After the Salzburg summit, the prime minister accused Mr Tusk of showing disrespect, but he tuned that accusation on the UK, saying: “In respecting our partners, we expect the same in return.

“Comparing the European Union to the Soviet Union is as unwise as it is insulting. The Soviet Union was about prisons and gulags, borders and walls, violence against citizens and neighbours.

“The European Union is about freedom and human rights, prosperity and peace, life without fear, it is about democracy and pluralism; a continent without internal borders or walls.

“As the president of the European Council and someone who spent half of my life in the Soviet Bloc, I know what I’m talking about.”

Asked if Mr Hunt should resign over his comments, Mr Tusk replied: “It’s not my problem.”

On the Irish border, he added: “We will not give up seeking a workable solution that fully respects the Good Friday Agreement as well as the integrity of the single market and the customs union.

The EU-imposed deadline for progress is the Brussels summit on October 18, although leaders will hope to agree a deal in outline a few days earlier.

The prime minister is preparing to compromise further, apparently by agreeing to keep the entire UK effectively inside the customs union indefinitely, unless and until technology provides a solution.

This would meet her pledge of no customs border down the Irish Sea, which she has argued would see the EU annex Northern Ireland.

The other change would leave Northern Ireland aligned with single market rules, introducing regulatory checks between Britain and the province.

However, at the Tory conference, Arlene Foster, the Democratic Unionist Party leader, vowed her party would torpedo any such agreement.

It is also likely to prove unacceptable to Brexiteers, if it would prevent the UK signing trade deals – even if agreed in Brussels.