Britain's Raab asked to scrap Irish backstop after three months: Telegraph

Thomson Reuters

(Reuters) - British Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab privately demanded the right to pull Britain out of a "backstop" arrangement for the Irish border after three months, the Telegraph reported on Sunday.

It said Raab had made the pitch to Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney in a private meeting in London last Tuesday.

The proposal was "apparently contradicted" by Cabinet Office Minister David Lidington on a visit to Dublin three days later, the newspaper said.

The European Union and Ireland have demanded an arrangement that guarantees there will be no physical structures delimiting the land border between the Irish republic and the British province of Northern Ireland after Britain leaves the EU, if negotiations fail to regulate the issue.

Raab's department said it did not comment on private meetings.

(Reporting by Ishita Chigilli Palli in Bengaluru; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

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