Boris Johnson dramatically challenged MPs to 'get Brexit done' today after he sealed a bombshell deal with the EU that deletes the hated backstop.
The Prime Minister took an extraordinary gamble by signing off the agreement despite fierce opposition from the DUP - who publicly spelled out a laundry list of objections and accused him of risking the break-up of the UK.
The bold move tees up a massive showdown in the House of Commons on Saturday, with Mr Johnson hoping EU leaders will help him at a Brussels summit tonight by declaring that it is this package or No Deal on October 31.
Mr Johnson and European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker announced the breakthrough in a carefully choreographed sequence this morning.
morning.
The new plan includes legal changes to Theresa May’s – something Brussels had previously insisted was impossible – with overhauled customs arrangements specifically for Northern Ireland rather than the whole UK.
Downing Street claimed the pact had done away with the Irish border backstop and would allow the whole UK to exploit the opportunities of leaving the EU, without the mainland being bound to Brussels rules or laws.
The Stormont assembly will theoretically be able to vote to end the arrangement, although critics argued that in practice the hurdles for doing so are insurmountable.
It came just hours after the DUP broke cover to condemn the proposals, ignoring huge pressure from the government to fall into line. In a defiant statement this afternoon, the unionists threatened to join forces with Labour and opposition parties - who have condemned the blueprint as a hard Brexit - to block the plan.
'These proposals are not, in our view, beneficial to the economic well-being of Northern Ireland and they undermine the integrity of the Union,' the statement said