BORIS Johnson will tell EU chiefs to finish off Brexit by signing his deal or let Britain leave the bloc now.
The PM is set for showdown talks with German chancellor Angela Merkel, Frances President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in the next two days.
BORIS BARGAIN
Mr Johnson hopes to get his deal signed off by the EU leaders at the crucial summit on Thursday, The Sunday Times reports.
The meeting is seen as his final chance to get a withdrawal agreement over the line ahead of the Brexit deadline of October 31.
A source close to the talks between Mr Johnson’s Brexit Sherpa David Frost and the EU negotiators said: Hell be talking to Merkel, Macron and Juncker by the end of Monday to see if there’s agreement on a landing zone for Northern Ireland and customs.
“The message is: Let’s finish this off. The alternative is to agree a friendly version of no deal and finish it that way.
The EU’s Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier met with Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay in Brussels today after Mr Johnson was given a huge boost following a successful meeting with Irish PM Leo Varadkar last week.
The PM and the Irish leader agreed that they could see a pathway to a possible deal after a summit at Thornton Manor on Merseyside.
Mr Varadkar later told reporters that talks were “at a very sensitive stage” but described the summit as “a very good meeting, very positive, and very promising”.
Today the PM told his Cabinet in a conference called that a new Brexit deal is possible but there is still a significant amount of work to get there”.
TUSK WARNING
It comes after EU chief Donald Tusk warned Mr Johnson on Friday that time is practically up for the UK to agree a new Brexit deal with Brussels.
The European Commission president said No10 has until Tuesday night to table another withdrawal agreement proposal.
He said: “Technical talks are taking place in Brussels as we speak. Of course, there is no guarantee of success and the time is practically up.
But even the slightest chance must be used. A no deal Brexit will never be the choice of the EU.”
Last night a senior EU source said the chances of a deal at Thursdays summit were 50-50 while a British official said described them as on a knife edge.
A persistent stumbling block to negotiations has been an alternative to the Northern Irish backstop.
Mr Johnson wants to keep Northern Ireland more closely aligned with the EU than the rest of the UK on rules on goods and agriculture but remove it from the current customs union.
But Mr Varadkar is opposed to the Republic being in a different customs union from the north.
DUP WARNING
The DUP has increased the pressure on the PM by firing a warning shot over a reported compromise to end the backstop deadlock.
Deputy leader Nigel Dodds warned the mooted plan “cannot work”.
This is a blow for Mr Johnson as he needs the support of the DUP to get his deal through Parliament.
Reports from Brussels claimed the PM had sought to revive a proposal first put forward by Theresa May for a customs partnership between the UK and the EU.
The scheme, intended to avoid the need for customs controls on the island of Ireland, would see Northern Ireland remain politically in a customs union with the EU but it would be administered by the UK.
However Mr Dodds told the Italian La Repubblica newspaper that Northern Ireland “must stay in a full UK customs union, full stop”.
“It cannot work because Northern Ireland has to remain fully part of the UK customs union,” he said.
He added: “There is a lot of stuff coming from Brussels, pushed by the Europeans in the last hours, but one thing is sure: Northern Ireland must remain fully part of the UK customs union. And Boris Johnson knows it very well.”
