Boris Johnson: EU must scrap the backstop to avoid a no-deal Brexit

After rebuff from Irish taoiseach, PM ready to blame ‘friends across the Channel’. Boris Johnson has said it is up to the EU to compromise to avoid a no-deal Brexit, after his demands for the backstop to be scrapped were met with a flat refusal from the Irish taoiseach, Leo Varadkar. In comments that showed he is preparing to blame the EU if the UK ends up leaving without a deal, Johnson said he was not aiming for a no-deal Brexit but the situation was “very much up to our frie