Lionel Laurent, Columnist

Boris Johnson Plays a Shameless Game With Merkel

No. 10’s hysterical briefings on the lack of a Brexit deal are all aimed at making Brussels look like the guilty party in the eyes of British voters.

It’s all her fault.

Photographer: Omer Messinger/Getty Images Europe
Lock
This article is for subscribers only.

Anyone clinging to the vain hope that U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is willingly prepared to soften his Brexit stance with a deal that’s acceptable to all sides got a dose of reality on Tuesday.

After a detailed list of predictable objections from the European Union to Britain’s proposed alternative to the Irish border “backstop” (a guarantee to avoid a hard border in Ireland) the Downing Street blame machine went into overdrive, with unnamed sources bashing intransigence in Brussels and EU capitals.