Brexit deal is essentially impossible ever, says Downing Street source

Mr Johnson has insisted Britain will leave on October 31 regardless, while promising to obey the law.

Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney said it was "hard to disagree" with Mr Tusk's explosive statement. He reiterated that if we did not reach an agreement then the United Kingdom will leave without a deal on the 31st October.

Speaking to the French Les Echos newspaper, he added: "A no-deal Brexit would lead to a collapse of the United Kingdom and a weakening of growth on the continent".

"There are some fundamental objectives that haven't changed for the past three years and we need them guaranteed", he told RTE news.

The No 10 source also suggested Mrs Merkel told her counterpart the only way to break the deadlock was for Northern Ireland to stay in the customs union and for it to permanently accept EU single market rules on trade in goods.

It is then down to MPs to decide whether this is the moment to try and oust him with a vote of no confidence, or whether to trust that the so-called Benn Act gets them the Brexit delay they want. Or at least, that seems to be the message from a "frank" phone call between Boris Johnson and Angela Merkel.

'What's at stake is not winning some stupid blame game, ' he said. But European Council president Donald Tusk accused the Tory leader of jeopardising the future of both Europe and the UK.

'You don't want a deal, you don't want an extension, you don't want to revoke, quo vadis [where are you going]?'.

Mr Sassoli later told the BBC's Newsnight programme: "Angela Merkel's opinions must be taken seriously".

The source was also quoted as blaming Irish Premier Leo Varadkar for refusing to negotiate, and warning that if Mr Johnson's plan "dies" in the next few days it would not be revived.

The source is quoted as saying that it will be made clear both privately and publicly that countries which oppose delay will "go the front of the queue for future co-operation - co-operation on things both within and outside European Union competences", adding: "Those who support delay will go to the bottom of the queue".

'Those who supported the delay will face the inevitable, being seen to interfere in domestic politics by colluding with a parliament as popular as the clap.' The outburst led Northern Ireland secretary, Julian Smith, to stress nothing should be done to jeopardise security co-operation with Dublin.

Ulster Unionist Party leader Robin Swann said Northern Ireland was on "brink of a no-deal disaster".

With just 23 days to go before the United Kingdom is due to leave the European Union, the future of Brexit remains deeply uncertain and both London and Brussels are positioning themselves to avoid blame for a delay or a disorderly no-deal Brexit.

"We won't engage in further talks, we obviously won't given any undertakings about co-operative behaviour, everything to do with "duty of honest cooperation" will be in the toilet", the source said. The bloc says the proposals don't fulfil the U.K.'s commitment to a frictionless border between Northern Ireland and European Union member Ireland.

"If this represents a new established position, then it means a deal is essentially impossible, not just now but ever", the source said.