British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced Wednesday "compromise" plans to try and resolve the deadlock between London and Brussels over Brexit.

Johnson repeated his commitment that the United Kingdom will leave the European Union on Oct. 31 with or without a deal, but said "constructive and reasonable" proposals were being delivered to Brussels.

Under Johnson's plans, Northern Ireland will maintain European Union rules on agricultural and possibly other goods in order to avoid infrastructure on the border and potentially damage the peace process.

However, Northern Ireland will remain outside the economic bloc's customs union, with no customs checks between Britain and the province. This would allow Northern Ireland to benefit from any new trade deals in the future.

Johnson said that "under no circumstances" will there be any checks at or near the Irish border.

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Instead, the government is proposing technology away from the border to facilitate customs checks. Northern Ireland would be able to exercise "democratic consent" over whether it wants to apply European Union regulations in the future, Johnson added.

Addressing the annual Conservative Party conference in Manchester, the prime minister said, "This is a compromise by the U.K. And I hope very much that our friends understand that and compromise in their turn."

He added that if Brussels failed to engage with the new offer, the alternative is no-deal.

"That is not an outcome we want," he said. "It is not an outcome we seek at all. But let me tell you -- this conference -- it is an outcome for which we are ready."

"Let's get Brexit done on October 31 because we must get on and deliver on all the priorities of the people to answer the cry of those 17.4 million who voted for Brexit."

Under the current exit deal, which has been rejected by Parliament three times, the United Kingdom would remain in a customs union with the European Union from 2021 if both sides were unable to come up with arrangements to avoid infrastructure on the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland.

The United Kingdom is seeking an ambitious free trade agreement with the European Union involving deep customs and regulatory cooperation.

The last chance for getting a deal is likely to be at a crunch European Union summit on Oct. 17 and 18.

However, the House of Commons has passed a bill which mandates the government to ask the European Union, by Oct. 19 at the latest, for another delay to Brexit until Jan. 31 if no agreement has been reached and parliamentarians have not agreed to a no-deal exit.

The United Kingdom was originally due to leave the European Union in March, but the date was pushed back to Oct. 31.


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