Boris Johnson's Brexit officials are 'deliberately holding back papers from EU'

A Cabinet minister has warned Boris Johnson his secret Brexit plans should not become “a hostage to fortune” as it emerged the Government is deliberately holding back papers from the EU.

The Mirror understands that officials are refusing to leave written documents with their Brussels counterparts amid fears they could be leaked.

Justice Secretary Robert Buckland alluded to the policy when he warned: “We have to deal with this very carefully, we mustn’t put up something which becomes unrealistic or a hostage to fortune.

“Let’s be careful and considered in these negotiations”.

Ahead of the PM stepping up his diplomatic push for a new deal next week, Downing Street sources yesterday admitted “tensions” with the EU over publishing his plans.

One No 10 insider confirmed that UK officials, led by the PM’s chief Brexit aide David Frost, had shown their Brussels colleagues the text of the withdrawal agreement with the Irish border backstop stripped out.

But on replacement proposals, they had simply “talked about what we want the proposal to look like and how we see it working”.

The Mirror understands there is concern over the documents being handed to the other 27 member states and then leaking - or being trashed before the EU gives a formal response.

The No 10 source said: “We have gone to meetings with papers to show what we’re thinking, but we have not left those papers behind.

“There is clearly a long way to go, we might not get there, but there’s still a basis for talking.”

EU leaders have grown increasingly frustrated about the UK’s refusal to publish a legal text.

At his car-crash meeting with Mr Johnson this week, Luxembourg PM Xavier Bettel said: “There are no concrete proposals. Time is ticking so stop speaking and act.”

Mr Johnson, who spoke with German Chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday, will next week meet EU leaders in talks at the UN in New York.

His official spokesman said: “You can expect a mix of technical and political talks to take place later this week, and then following that the talks will shortly move to being on a daily basis.”