Boris Johnson has opened crunch Brexit talks at a Wirral country estate.
The UK prime minister met Irish taoiseach Leo Varadkar at Thornton Manor on Thursday morning in efforts to break the country’s post-EU withdrawal deadlock.
Mr Varadkar’s private jet touched down at Liverpool John Lennon Airport ahead of the summit on Merseyside to discuss the future of the Irish border.
A number of pro-European Union supporters arrived at the gates of Thornton Manor to voice their opposition to Johnson’s plans for a no-deal Brexit outcome.
It had been speculated that the meeting was set to take place in Liverpool, a city which Johnson has routinely attacked dating back to his days as Spectator editor.
Steve Rotheram, the region’s Metro Mayor, called on the Tory leader to address his previous slurs on the area in particular related to the Hillsborough disaster.
He tweeted: “If Boris Johnson is in Liverpool this week – he should put time aside to, at long last, acknowledge the pain he caused as Editor of the Spectator, in publishing an article that smeared our city and the lives of 96 football fans who lost their lives at Hillsborough.”
Alison McGovern, who represents Labour in the Wirral South constituency, also took Johnson to task on how his Brexit proposals will affect the local economy.
“The Prime Minister’s meeting today is taking place just a few miles from Vauxhall Motors, Ellesmere Port and Airbus at Broughton,” she said.
“He should take a few minutes whilst he is here to explain to those who work there why he has put their livelihoods at risk with his No Deal Brexit.
“Whilst he is here, he could also do with explaining to people in New Ferry why their town centre is still in pieces, over two and a half years after the explosion that ruined it.
“And offering some kind of excuse to Wirral foodbank volunteers as to why – 10 years into a Tory government- we still have people in Merseyside who are forced to beg for food.
“A situation that will be drastically worsened by his Brexit proposals.”
In July, Johnson was challenged by Garston and Halewood MP Maria Eagle to apologise for publishing slurs about Liverpool in Parliament but refused.
The UK is currently scheduled to leave the European Union on October 31.
More to follow