BORIS Johnson was yesterday accused of being “hell-bent” on a No-Deal Brexit – as Angel Merkel gave the Prime Minister 30 days to come up with an alternative solution to the Irish backstop.

Johnson arrived in Berlin ostensibly in a bid to have the contingency measure agreed by predecessor Theresa May – and signed off by then-foreign secretary Johnson – removed from the withdrawal agreement.

But Tory former minister Ed Vaizey suggested he was “just going through the motions” with his Europe trip.

The MP told BBC Radio 4: “We have to find a way to get Parliament to agree to a deal and therefore I would give Boris Johnson the credit of at least forcing on Parliament an existential crisis by being faced with a prime minister who is hell-bent on getting No Deal. He is completely serious about No Deal and there’s no chance of him negotiating a deal with the EU, he knows that, he’s just going though the motions.”

Meanwhile, Merkel, who was set for talks with Johnson last night over dinner, said in a statement that the backstop had always been a “fallback position” and would only come into effect if no other solution was agreed that would protect the “integrity of the single market”.

In an attempt to have a backstop solution in place before the October 31 Brexit deadline, the German leader insisted any new arrangement would have to be agreed within 30 days. Merkel said: “If one is able to solve this conundrum, if one finds this solution, we said we would

probably find it in the next two years to come but we can also maybe find it in the next 30 days to come. Then we are one step further in the right direction and we have to obviously put our all into this.”

Johnson said he was “very happy” with the proposal for a “blistering timetable”. The UK Government was not briefed that Merkel would demand a 30-day deadline, but the PM’s team claimed they are hopeful that it is an indication European leaders are preparing to renegotiate – despite the EU repeatedly ruling that out.

Johnson told Merkel the backstop would have to go – or else Britain was prepared to leave without a deal. He said the backstop would need to be removed “whole and entire” before a deal could be reached.

The Conservative Party leader is due to travel to France today for similar talks with French president Emmanuel Macron in Paris. Any optimism of an agreement being reached, however, was extinguished yesterday after one of Macron’s aides told journalists that No Deal “is becoming most likely scenario”. Back in the UK, preparations for No Deal continued. Chancellor Sajid Javid announced an auto-enrolment scheme to help businesses prepare for post-Brexit trade with the EU, with HM Revenue and Customs to begin automatically enrolling firms in a customs ID-system.

However, Jeremy Corbyn announced he was inviting senior politicians to a cross-party meeting to discuss a strategy to prevent No Deal, in a letter addressed to SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford, as well as the Commons leaders of the LibDems, Plaid Cymru, Greens and Change UK.

Blackford said: “With time running out, it is vital that MPs take every step necessary to stop Brexit and block a catastrophic No Deal. All options must be on the table. The SNP stands ready to pursue every avenue, including passing legislation to block no-deal and a vote of no confidence in the Tory government.