British Prime Minster Boris Johnson has said a proposal for a new Brexit agreement with the European Union which his government is submitting to the EU today, is "constructive and reasonable, and provides a compromise for both sides".

But he said a rejection of his plan would mean a no-deal Brexit, which would happen on 31 October.

It comes as Mr Johnson addressed the Conservative Party annual conference in Manchester.

In a speech that promised much, but in the end delivered no detail, Mr Johnson said: "We will under no circumstances have checks at or near the border in Northern Ireland."

He said his proposal will respect the peace process and the Good Friday Agreement.

Using what he called "a process of renewable democratic consent by the assembly and executive of Northern Ireland" he said the proposal would protect the existing regulatory arrangements for farmers and other businesses on both sides of the border.

At the same time he said the UK as a whole would leave the EU and control its own trade policy from the start.

He added that he hoped the EU would compromise on his new Brexit offer.

Mr Johnson said it was time to get Brexit done, pledging again that he would take Britain out of the European Union on 31 October "come what may".

"What the whole world wants - is to be calmly and sensibly done with the subject and to move on. And that is why we are coming out of the EU on October 31, come what may ... let's get Brexit done. We can, we must and we will," he said.

We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences

Read more:
Latest Brexit stories
Brexit countdown special reports

The Minister for Communications, Climate Action and the Environment has described Boris Johnson's speech as "light on detail".

Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, Richard Bruton said it is very difficult to judge what proposals are being put forward.

The Director General of the British Irish Chamber of Commerce said Mr Johnson made two important points in his speech.

John McGrane said the first point was that under no circumstances would there be checks at or near the border, and that existing regulatory arrangements for farmers and businesses would be protected.

"Those are good things. What we don't know is the framework by which he proposes to bring that about. That could either be by substantial alignment of Northern Ireland's trading framework with that of the south and the EU, or he may be expecting the EU to deliver a whole series of waivers and ignore a lot of the normal rules of trade".

Mr McGrane said that if it is the second option, businesses would be very pessimistic about the likelihood of that being brought about by the EU.