Theresa May will reject Michel Barnier’s revised Irish backstop border proposals at the Salzburg summit because the EU is still insisting on customs checks down the Irish Sea if the two sides cannot strike a free trade agreement after Brexit.

The prime minister foreshadowed the argument she will make to the other EU leaders over dinner on Wednesday evening in an article in Die Welt, which said the proposed backstop was “unacceptable” because it did not respect “the constitutional and economic integrity of the UK”. May will arrive in Salzburg on Wednesday afternoon at an informal EU council during which will she will address Brexit over dinner and where EU leaders will discuss the issue again at lunch on Thursday in her absence.

The prime minister will also hold bilateral meetings on Thursday with the EU president, Donald Tusk, and Irish taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, as she seeks to end the impasse over the future of the UK’s only land border.(theguardian)…[+]