Irish deputy PM Simon Coveney strongly criticises Johnson’s hard stance on border backstop

Ireland has said it cannot agree to Boris Johnson’s demands just for his “political convenience”, giving the lie to fresh claims that the EU was about to compromise on the Irish border backstop.

In an interview in Dublin, the deputy prime minister, Simon Coveney, strongly criticised Johnson’s aggressive approach, saying Ireland would not take its instructions from No 10 just because of the threat of havoc all round.