UK prime minister unveils his preferred Brexit withdrawal deal

European Union leaders have given a lukewarm response to the British prime minister's latest proposals for a Brexit withdrawal deal to manage their relationship after the United Kingdom leaves the bloc.

Both the UK and the EU have said they would prefer to have a deal in place when the nation leaves the bloc at the end of October but have disagreed on details.

Boris Johnson unveiled his contribution on Wednesday and explained it in a statement to British lawmakers in the House of Commons on Thursday.

"We have shown great flexibility," he said of his negotiating stance. " … Surely, we can summon the collective will to reach an agreement."

His proposal attempts to deal with the most contentious issue to have come up so far; the way in which the border should be managed between the Republic of Ireland, an EU member, and Northern Ireland, which will leave the EU.

Johnson's proposal calls for Northern Ireland to remain in the European single market for goods but to leave the EU's customs union, which would mean the introduction of new customs checks.

With all sides anxious to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland because of fears that it might reignite sectarian violence between those who want Northern Ireland to amalgamate with the Republic and those who want it to remain part of the UK, the idea of reintroducing customs checks has been controversial.

But Johnson says a hard border can be avoided by using technology so checks can be conducted far from the physical border.

"The UK will never conduct checks at the border," he insisted.

The European Commission said earlier that the plan had made "advances" on the previous one, but that problems remain.

The BBC reported that Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar had said the proposal "did not fully meet the agreed objectives of the backstop", which is the EU's suggested mechanism to avoid a hard border by essentially committing the whole of the UK to follow EU rules until the two parties can agree a free-trade deal.

The broadcaster said Varadkar vowed to look at the proposed deal "in further detail".

The UK's opposition Labour Party and several other smaller opposition parties have already said it is unworkable.

Johnson has repeatedly said he will make sure the UK leaves the EU on Oct 31, with or without a divorce deal, despite attempts by British lawmakers to ensure that does not happen through cross-party legislation that calls for Johnson to gain their approval before Oct 19 or ask the EU to defer the exit date so talks can continue.

Johnson told members of Parliament on Thursday that his proposals are a "broad landing zone" on which the UK and the EU can base future talks. He said, despite the two sides being"still some way from a resolution", he hopes to now see "rapid negotiations", so an agreement between the UK and the EU can be approved by the bloc at a summit on Oct 17.

He told MPs: "I welcome the constructive calls I have had in the past 24 hours" from EU leaders but that all sides would share responsibility if the UK ends up leaving without a deal.

"If our EU neighbors chose not to show corresponding willingness to reach a deal, then we will leave on 31 October," he added. "It will be a failure of statecraft which all parties would be responsible for."

The Democratic Unionist Party, a Northern Ireland political party that is seen by many as holding the balance of power on whether any deal is approved or not, has said it will support Johnson's new proposals.

And several Conservative Party MPs who earlier rejected former prime minister Theresa May's proposed withdrawal deal have said they may support Johnson's.

Bernard Jenkin, an enthusiast of the UK leaving the EU who voted against May's proposed deal, said on Radio 4's Today program there is a mood for compromise in Parliament and that "people want to get this done".

But Scotland's First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, who leads the Scottish National Party, said the proposals were "designed to fail". And the leaders of the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats have strongly criticized it.

Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the Labour Party, said Johnson's proposal is a "rehashed version" of the one put forward by May.

"These proposals would lead to an even worse deal than the one put forward by the previous government," he told MPs. " …These plans are simply unworkable."

The Guardian newspaper reported that John McDonnell, the Labour Party's shadow chancellor, had said: "Any responsible prime minister would have spent the past three months trying to build a consensus in Parliament and across the European Union in order to break the deadlock. However, Boris Johnson has neither the intention nor ability to negotiate a deal or protect jobs and communities across the United Kingdom."

He insisted Johnson simply wants to "force through a no-deal Brexit".

Tom Brake, the Liberal Democrat's Brexit spokesman, said: "It is ludicrous to think that somehow Boris Johnson believes the answer to ensuring no Irish border is to create two."

The European Commission said on Thursday its president, Jean-Claude Juncker, was set to speak directly to Republic of Ireland leader Leo Varadkar on Thursday, following a conversation between Juncker and Johnson on Wednesday.