Sign up here to receive the daily news briefing in your inbox every morning with exclusive insight from the BrexitCentral team Boris Johnson to reveal his final Brexit plan to EU leaders within 24 hours… Boris Johnson will finally unveil his detailed plan for Brexit to EU leaders within the next 24 hours, The Daily Telegraph can disclose. Downing Street will set out the Prime Minister’s preferred alternative to the Irish backstop in a series of calls to EU capitals ahead of a formal text being delivered to Brussels after his speech to the Conservative Party conference on Wednesday. Senior sources with knowledge of the UK proposals confirmed reports that it would require a customs border to be created in Ireland, but with technology to smooth the movement of goods between north and south. Under the proposals, “customs clearance centres” set five or 10 miles back from the border would be used to move pre-cleared consignments that will be tracked by GPS or mobile devices fitted to vehicles. – Telegraph (£) Government to reveal detailed plan for EU negotiations – BBC News Boris Johnson prepares to make ‘final Brexit offer’ to EU next week ahead of showdown summit – The Sun …urging the EU to rule out any further Brexit delay as part of a new deal… Boris Johnson is asking the European Union to rule out a further extension to Article 50 as part of a new Brexit deal, The Times has learnt. The prime minister will publish a legal text spelling out his proposed alternative to the Irish backstop within days as negotiations with Brussels enter a crucial period. He has privately made clear that an agreement should include a commitment from the 27 other EU nations that they will not allow another Brexit delay. Mr Johnson’s intention is to confront MPs in parliament with a binary choice of agreeing the revised deal or ensuring that Britain falls out of the EU without agreement at the end of the month. If he succeeds, the prime minister will, in effect, nullify the Benn Act, which compels him to seek an extension to Article 50. – The Times (£) Boris urges leaders to veto extension beyond Oct 31 – The Sun …as the UK reportedly proposes customs clearance centres away from the Irish border in a bid to replace the backstop… The UK has proposed the creation of a string of customs posts along both sides of the Irish border as part of its effort to replace the backstop, RTÉ News understands. The ideas, which would be highly controversial, are contained in proposals sent from London to the European Union – extracts of which have been seen by RTÉ News. The proposals would effectively mean customs posts being erected on both sides of the border, but located perhaps five to ten miles ‘back’ from the actual land frontier. This is because under British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the UK is insisting that Northern Ireland remain completely outside the EU’s customs union for industrial goods and agri-food products. – RTE …although Johnson’s ‘secret Irish border plans’ are dismissed as non-starter by Dublin The idea of permanent clearance sites on both sides of the border, even five to 10 miles away, and real-time tracking of the movements of goods are unlikely to be supported by the Irish government. A spokesman for Downing Street said: “Nothing we are proposing involves checks or controls at the border. That is an absolute commitment.” A government source said the report was a misrepresentation of the “non-paper”, which discussed customs checks at place of origin or destination of goods. In the limited cases that inspections were needed, physical checks could be at dedicated premises, factories or production sites, the source suggested. But Simon Coveney, Ireland’s deputy prime minister, dismissed the proposals as a “non-starter”, and called for a “serious proposal” from the UK. – Guardian A Cabinet divide is opening up over whether Boris Johnson can delay Brexit… A split is beginning to emerge among cabinet ministers and advisers at the top of government over whether Boris Johnson could break his leadership election promise and delay Brexit beyond Oct. 31. The prime minister has long insisted that he will not agree to an extension of Article 50 beyond that date and that he would rather “be dead in a ditch” than ask the EU for another delay. But behind the scenes, cabinet ministers are divided on whether this hardline public position is realistic, with some privately suggesting Johnson could renege on his commitment to deliver Brexit by Halloween. Ministers and aides have formed three groups, multiple government sources told BuzzFeed News: those for whom there is no alternative to leaving on October 31; those who believe Johnson should delay rather than try to get around the anti-no deal legislation passed by parliament; and those in the middle who are starting to argue that the prime minister could survive an extension if it was forced upon him. – Buzzfeed …as Housing minister Esther McVey admits she ‘does not know’ how Johnson will bypass the law to deliver Brexit on 31st October A government minister has admitted that she “does not know” how Boris Johnson will deliver Brexit by 31 October but hinted that the prime minister has a plan to bypass a law blocking no-deal. Esther McVey, the housing minister, who attends cabinet, suggested that she was not aware of No10’s plan for bypassing the so-called Benn Act, which is designed to stop the UK leaving the EU without a deal on Halloween, but hinted that the prime minister had something in his “back pocket for when you need to pull it out”. The Brexiteer became the second minister of the day to suggest that No10 had a secret strategy for getting around the law, after Sajid Javid, the chancellor said he believed he knew what the plan was. – Independent Sajid Javid promises billions to cushion the effect of a no-deal Brexit Sajid Javid, the chancellor, will on Monday set out plans to pump billions of pounds into the British economy in the event of a no-deal Brexit, saying that he is preparing a “significant policy response” and hinting the Bank of England would join in with the stimulus. Mr Javid, in a speech to the Conservative party conference, will promise to take measures to offset the shock of a disorderly exit, although he admitted on Monday he could not say how great the damage to the economy would be. “I don’t think anyone knows the full proper answer to that question,” he told the BBC’s Today programme ahead of the speech. The independent Office for Budget Responsibility has warned that even a relatively benign no-deal exit would cost the exchequer £30bn. – FT (£) > WATCH: Chancellor Sajid Javid’s speech on Brexit to Conservative Party Conference Civil service chief says Brexit is ‘unsettling’ Whitehall Mark Sedwill, the cabinet secretary and head of the civil service, has admitted that Brexit is “unsettling” colleagues across Whitehall and has pledged to listen to officials’ mounting concerns, according to a leaked letter written last week. In a fresh sign of the upheaval that Brexit is generating within the service, Sir Mark has said he was determined to “resist attempts to draw the civil service into the arguments” around the implementation of Brexit. Sir Mark’s letter was addressed to departmental chiefs last Wednesday, one day after the Supreme Court judged Boris Johnson’s suspension of parliament to be unlawful. In the letter, leaked to Sky News, Sir Mark gives a particularly strong assurance to Whitehall’s leading officials that Mr Johnson will abide both by the Supreme Court judgment and anti-no deal legislation passed in early September by parliament. – FT (£) Remainer ‘rebel alliance’ split over ploy of a no-confidence vote… Opposition leaders were in disarray on Monday night after they failed to mount a challenge to topple Boris Johnson and were split on who should replace him as a “caretaker” prime minister. The so-called “rebel alliance” on Monday emerged from a cross-party meeting riven by infighting, having failed to agree on a strategy to prevent Mr Johnson from delivering Brexit by Oct 31. Whilst the SNP and Labour had called for a confidence vote to bring down the Government this week, the Liberal Democrats refused to back one until Mr Johnson had been forced to ask for a Brexit extension. Jo Swinson, the Lib Dem leader, told Jeremy Corbyn that she would not let him takeover as interim leader and warned that a confidence vote would “play into Boris Johnson’s hands”. – Telegraph (£) …as they supposedly plot to ask the Queen to sack the PM in a day if he refuses to beg Brussels for a Brexit extension The Remainer Alliance is plotting to ask the Queen to sack Boris Johnson as PM in a day if he refuses to beg Brussels for a Brexit extension. Opposition parties plan to use a Humble Address – a direct call from Parliament to the monarch – to fire Boris if he does not go cap in hand to EU chiefs by October 19. The Alliance, led by Lib Dem boss Jo Swinson, also wants to use the address to force the government to produce documents on its Brexit plans. However, a Cabinet minister told Bloomberg News that No10 had taken legal advice and was confident a Humble Address could not be used to boot Boris out of Downing Street. The move comes after the Alliance ruled out a No Confidence vote in Mr Johnson as MPs plot ways to force the PM into begging the bloc for an early Brexit extension. – The Sun A majority of MPs now support a fresh referendum, claims Dominic Grieve A majority of MPs now support a Final Say Brexit referendum, Dominic Grieve says – but it depends on Jeremy Corbyn to make it happen. Speaking on the fringe of the Conservative conference, the exiled Tory MP urged supporters of another public vote not to let up the pressure, arguing victory was “very close”. “There is probably a majority in the House of Commons now to deliver it, which is fantastic,” Mr Grieve told the Conservatives for a People’s Vote campaign. The former attorney general conceded the “very big but” was Mr Corbyn recognising he was unlikely to win a snap election and that he should join the push for a referendum instead. In a direct challenge to the Labour leader, Mr Grieve said: “Is he going to step up to the mark and act as a statesman, and see that this is the burning issue that we need to resolve first? – Independent Theresa May insists she has no regrets over her time as PM – despite failing to deliver Brexit Theresa May has insisted she has no regrets over her time in No10 – despite failing to deliver Brexit three times and leaving the country in chaos. Speaking for the first time since she stepped down as PM in July, the Maidenhead MP said yesterday she only wished her parents, who died when she was in her 20s, could have lived to see her get the top job. Asked about whether she had regrets of her time in office, Mrs May, 62, told an audience at the Henley Literature Festival: “No I don’t think so. I have had a fantastic time.” And she added: “They didn’t even live to see me become a local councillor, let alone being PM. I hope they would have been proud.” – The Sun Asa Bennett: Is Boris Johnson laying the groundwork for a Brexit surrender? Boris Johnson recently explained to Tory MPs why he was so incensed by Hilary Benn’s Brexit delay mandating legislation, which he has taken to calling the “surrender bill”. The Prime Minister had been getting along well with European leaders in his renegotiation mission, to the extent that – as one MP recounted being told – Angela Merkel turned to Donald Tusk to insist a deal needed to be hammered out “that Johnson can sign”. Tory colleagues were told how the face of the European Council’s chief fell on hearing this. But then the pressure had been eased on his European counterparts, Mr Johnson complained, because he had his “legs chopped off” by the legislation pushed through Parliament. – Asa Bennett for the Telegraph (£) James Kirkup: The genius of Boris’s Brexit slogan I can’t say I like it much, but the slogan for the Conservative Party conference in Manchester is a work of political genius: ‘Get Brexit done: invest in our NHS, schools and police’. In ten words, it offers a simplicity and clarity of intent that none of those who stand opposed to Boris Johnson have yet summoned up. Arguably, that slogan captures something that could even be described as the missing centre-ground in British politics: socially conservative (Brexit as reassertion of the nation state and the rejection of liberal internationalism) and economically liberal (Spend! Spend! Spend on the strong state!). If – big if – the Conservatives fight a general under that banner, my money would be on them to win. – James Kirkup for The Spectator Douglas Carswell: Why the next election will be the most important in a century If Boris wins a working majority, we will not only be saved from having Diane Abbott as Home Secretary – we might find that we have a realistic chance of introducing some of the far-reaching change our country needs. If Boris wins, we won’t just leave the European Union. If we are to have self-government again, we need to be up to governing ourselves. Recent events suggest that currently we aren’t. The House of Commons we have today – with a few exceptions on either side – is full of nonentities. Unwilling to deliver what the clear majority of people voted, these career MPs are terrified of allowing the voters a say in an election. Not a single one of the 17 MPs that has switched parties amid much posturing has had the confidence outside the TV studio to offer themselves up for a confirmatory by-election. – Douglas Carswell for CapX Katy Balls: The Tories can live with a Brexit extension – as long as someone else takes the blame The best way to rouse drowsy delegates at the Tory conference is to declare, “Get Brexit done”. It is this year’s guaranteed applause line. No matter how clunking the speech or how flat the joke, uttering it gets the members clapping. In the bars and the receptions, it’s the same story – the phrase has people raising their glasses and cheering approval. The message is simple and repetitive: back Boris Johnson to get Brexit done and allow the country to move on and talk about something else. Normally a party comes up with a slogan for its conference and then focus-groups it. But there was no need with this slogan: it came out of the focus groups. No 10 and CCHQ were struck by how often voters said it in these groups, which Dominic Cummings sets such store by, and so decided to adopt it as their own. – Katy Balls for the Guardian David Shiels: What now are the chances of unstopping the backstop? After the Conservative Party Conference ends this week, the Government is expected to present written proposals to the EU on alternatives to the backstop. The reaction from the EU – and the Irish Government in particular – will determine whether Brexit will happen on time, and possibly whether it happens at all. Faced with Parliament’s opposition to a No Deal Brexit, and the constraints of the Benn Act, getting a deal with the EU is perhaps the only way the Prime Minister can keep his promise to leave on 31 October – and even then the prospect of securing the backing of the Commons looks slim. As things stand, a deal seems unlikely. The EU has downplayed the chances of any significant movement on the backstop, reaffirming their solidarity with the Irish Government. Jean-Claude Juncker, has said that the UK must provide a ‘legally operable solution’ which meets the same objectives as the backstop. In an interview with Ireland’s Sunday Independent this weekend, Simon Coveney said: “I don’t believe anything that the British side has proposed since Boris Johnson became Prime Minister is credible as an attempt to try to get a deal done.” – David Shiels for ConservativeHome John Redwood: Abuse of language Remain propaganda us often used by the mainstream media to describe features of Brexit. We are told we need to avoid a No Deal Brexit. No-one is proposing one. If we leave on 31st October as promised without signing the Withdrawal Agreement it will be a multi deal Brexit. There will be a Customs Agreement, an Aviation Agreement, a Government Procurement Agreement, a Haulage Agreement and many others. Remain muddles the Withdrawal Agreement which does not offer anything by way of a future partnership with things that can help. We are told we will fall off a cliff edge. Why? Most nations trade successfully with the EU without being members. Calais has assured us the vehicles will flow with their exports to us after we have left, just as we import easily today from many non EU countries. – John Redwood’s Diary Matthew Goodwin: Can Boris win back Brexit Party voters? Boris Johnson knows what he needs to win a majority. He knows he needs to win over a big chunk of the Brexit Party vote. He knows that if he wins those voters over, then the Conservative Party securing a comfortable majority in the next election is no longer possible but certain. That’s why he is anchoring his looming campaign in the claim that while opposition parties want to “surrender” to the EU, only the Conservative Party will “get Brexit done”.It is also why he is promising vast sums of investment for infrastructure and the NHS. There will, he claims, be a revival of the northern powerhouse, he will speak for the regions, and he also has plans for an Australian-based immigration points system. For the most part, it has all been lifted from the Farage playbook. To further incentivise these voters to switch sides, Johnson has also ruled out an electoral pact with Farage. – Matthew Goodwin for Unherd Brexit in Brief Jackson Carlaw ‘failed to inform’ Scottish Tory Shadow Cabinet ahead of no deal Brexit u-turn – Telegraph (£) Conservatives seek Brussels intern starting November 1 – does Boris know something? – Express