UK plan to avoid hard border is ‘unworkable’

Britain’s latest plan to avoid a hard border was immediately criticised as unworkable by European leaders, amid chaos within the British cabinet.

The Government said it welcomed the publication of the UK paper but warned much work needs to be done to avoid a collapse in the talks.

The UK’s proposed “backstop” plan for trade with the EU after Brexit has been published after an “expected” end date of 2021 was included in it. It followed crunch meetings between Prime Minister Theresa May and Brexit Secretary David Davis, who insisted a cut-off date be included.