Ireland will 'never accept' deal allowing UK to end backstop alone, minister warns Dominic Raab

Brexit deal will be agreed within three weeks, Dominic Raab tells MPs

Ireland has made clear it will "never accept" a Brexit deal that allows the UK to unilaterally end a Northern Ireland "backstop".

On his Twitter account, Simon Coveney, the Irish foreign minister, said a "time-limited backstop" to the Irish border that could be ended unilaterally by the UK "would never be agreed to" by the Republic of Ireland or the EU.

It comes following reports that Dominic Raab, the Brexit secretary, privately demanded the right to pull Britain out of the EU's proposed backstop after just three months.

On Monday, Theresa May also held a phone call with Leo Varadkar, the Irish prime minister, who said he was open to a "review" mechanism for the backstop.

Ms May told her counterpart she was still committed to a full backstop, despite Mr Raab’s comments.

Speaking earlier in Dublin Mr Varadkar had said a time-limited backstop as suggested by Mr Raab would not be worth the paper it was written on.

“As a government we’re working very hard to get an agreement, ideally by the end of the year, but you know one thing we can’t countenance is any idea that there’d be a three-month limit on the backstop,” he told the Irish media.

See how the day in Westminster unfolded below

Key Points

• Johnson calls PM's proposed Brext deal an 'absolute stinker'
• Top lawyers call on May to give voters a final say on Brexit deal
• Banks 'contradicted his own evidence' over £8m Leave funding

[5 November 2018 17:11 · Ashley Cowburn]

[5 November 2018 17:21 · Ashley Cowburn]

This is from my colleague, Rob Merrick, who is watching the chancellor Philip Hammond's appearance at the treasury select committee.

[5 November 2018 17:21 · Ashley Cowburn]

[5 November 2018 17:51 · Ashley Cowburn]

[5 November 2018 17:58 · Ashley Cowburn]

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