Boris Johnson unveils his Brexit plan

He warned there was "very little time".

Camley's Cartoon: DUP backs PM's Brexit plan

But he said "both sides now need to consider whether there is sufficient willingness to compromise and move beyond existing positions" to reach an agreement.

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The comments came after a bombastic performance at his first Tory conference as leader, sealed in the end by a kiss with his girlfriend after days of tortured speculation over his behaviour and private life.

His speech greeted by applause was rich in rhetoric, if light in policy, as he looked to ensure perhaps that focus was left purely on piling pressure on his EU counterparts.

In his letter, Mr Johnson said the backstop - the contingency plan agreed by the EU and Theresa May to prevent a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland - must be removed.

Unlike his predecessor's plans for a UK-EU relationship with a closely integrated customs arrangement, Mr Johnson favoured a looser free trade deal and "in these circumstances the proposed 'backstop' is a bridge to nowhere".

Mr Johnson said the plan had five elements:

- A commitment to a solution compatible with the Good Friday Agreement

- Confirmation of support for long-standing areas of UK-Ireland collaboration including the Common Travel Area and north-south co-operation

- The potential creation of an all-Ireland regulatory zone covering all goods including agri-food

- The consent of those affected by that all-Ireland zone with the Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly given the chance to endorse the plan before it comes into effect and then every four years

- Northern Ireland will be fully part of the UK customs territory and outside the EU's customs union.

Mr Johnson claimed the plan was "entirely compatible with maintaining an open border in Northern Ireland".

He told Mr Juncker that because the goods trade between Northern Ireland and Ireland made up "a little over 1% of UK-EU total trade in goods" it was "entirely reasonable to manage this border in a different way.

Any risks arising from the proposals would be "manageable", particularly as imports from third countries would be controlled by EU and UK customs authorities.

Under the plan there would be "decentralised" customs regimes, with paperwork conducted electronically as goods move between the two countries.

But Mr Johnson acknowledged there would need to be a "very small number of physical checks", which he claimed could be conducted at traders' premises or other points in the supply chain - rather than at the border.

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He called for the two sides to work together to find "flexible and creative solutions", coupled with a joint commitment "never to conduct checks at the border in future".

Mr Johnson said the continued regulatory alignment across the island of Ireland could continue "for a potentially prolonged period" after the end of a transition period if Stormont agrees.

But the requirement for the consent of the Northern Irish Assembly meant that EU rules "cannot be maintained indefinitely if they are not wanted".

The Prime Minister said: "I hope that these proposals can now provide the basis for rapid negotiations towards a solution, together with finalisation of the necessary changes to the Political Declaration reflecting the goal of a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement, so that an Article 50 agreement can be reached, and the UK can leave the EU in an orderly fashion on October 31.

"This will allow us to focus on the positive future relationship that I believe is in all of our interests."

Mr Johnson's letter also signalled extra investment for Northern Ireland.

The "New Deal for Northern Ireland" would have "appropriate commitments to help boost economic growth and Northern Ireland's competitiveness, and to support infrastructure projects, particularly with a cross-border focus".

Mr Johnson's Democratic Unionist Party allies backed the proposals.

In a statement the party said the plans were a basis for the EU to continue "in a serious and sustained engagement with the UK Government without risk to the internal market of the United Kingdom" and they "ensure democratic consent to the specific alignment proposals".

"Further work remains to be completed between the UK and the European Union but we would encourage all concerned to approach these discussions in a positive mindset within a spirit of wanting to secure a negotiated withdrawal agreement that can allow everyone to focus on future relationships," the DUP added.

Earlier Mr Johnson paved the way for a General Election with a call to arms to “get Brexit done” and a warning that Jeremy Corbyn and Nicola Sturgeon together would destroy "our precious Union".

He told the party faithful in Manchester: “We have always had the courage to be original, to do things differently and now we are about to take another giant step, to do something no one thought we could do: to reboot our politics; to relaunch ourselves into the world and to dedicate ourselves again to that simple proposition that we are here to serve the democratic will of the British people.

“If we do that with optimism and confidence, then I tell you we will not go wrong. Let’s get on with sensible moderate One Nation but tax-cutting Tory Government and, figuratively if not literally, let us send Jeremy Corbyn into orbit where he belongs.

“Let’s get Brexit done. Let’s bring our country together,” declared Mr Johnson.

He poked fun at Scotland's First Minister, whom he said, along with her predecessor at Holyrood, Alex Salmond, despite their surnames would hand back control of Scotland’s fishing waters to EU control.

“We want to turbo-charge the Scottish fishing sector; they would allow Brussels to charge for our turbot,” he declared.

Referring to the proposed space-port in Sutherland, the PM joked about coaxing the “Communist cosmonaut” into the cockpit and sending him into orbit.

On a more serious note, he warned conference: “If Jeremy Corbyn were allowed into Downing St, he would whack up your taxes, he would foul up the economy, he would rip up the alliance between Britain and the USA and he would break up the UK. We cannot allow that to happen.”

Mr Johnson insisted the Tories were not an anti-European party nor was Britain an anti-European country.

“We love Europe. I love Europe, anyway. I love it. We are European. But after 45 years of really dramatic constitutional change we must have a new relationship with the EU; a positive and confident partnership. And we can do it.”

The PM spoke of “constructive and reasonable proposals,” which provided for a compromise on both sides.

While he gave few details of his new plan – they are due to be published later today - Mr Johnson explained there would, under no circumstances, be checks “at or near” the border in Northern Ireland.

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Insisting how the Good Friday Agreement would be respected, he explained: “By a process of renewable democratic consent by the executive and assembly of Northern Ireland, we will go further and protect the existing regulatory arrangements for farmers and other businesses on both sides of the border.

“And, at the same time, we will allow the UK, whole and entire, to withdraw from the EU with control of our own trade policy from the start. And to protect our precious Union between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.”

Mr Johnson called for compromise from Brussels, warning that the only alternative to an agreement was no-deal.

After referring to the “supreme authority in my family: my mother,” who, he revealed had voted Leave, the party leader insisted a no-deal was not an outcome he sought but Britain was now prepared for it.

He asked the audience: “Are we ready? Are we ready to resolve this?” It answered twice: “Yes!”

Several times Mr Johnson uttered the conference slogan “Get Brexit Done” to cheers from the packed auditorium, decrying the stalemate in Parliament.

“Just at the moment when voters are desperate for us to focus on their priorities we are continuing to chew the super-masticated subject of Brexit, when what people want, what Leavers want, what Remainers want, 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 to applause.

Underscoring the prospect of an election, he talked up what he has dubbed the “people’s priorities”; investing in schools, hospitals and police as well as the desire to raise productivity and unlock talent across the UK.

The two main political targets, in what at times felt like a campaign speech that was high on rhetoric but light on policy, were Mr Corbyn and Ms Sturgeon.

Denouncing the “fratricidal anti-Semitic Marxists,” who gathered in Brighton for the Labour conference last week, the Tory leader denounced the Leader of the Opposition for proposing a raft of “damaging and retrograde ideas” such as a four-day week, which he said would cut the pay of low-income earners.

Accusing the SNP which wanted to “bundle him towards the throne like some Konstantin Chernenko figure, reluctantly propelled to office in a Kremlin coup,” Mr Johnson claimed Ms Sturgeon and Mr Corbyn were engaged in a “programme for total national discord”; wanting to blight 2020 with the “chaos and cacophony” of two more referendums: one on Scottish independence and one on EU membership. The audience groaned.

“Can you imagine another three years of this? But that is the Corbyn agenda; stay in the EU beyond October 31 and paying a billion pounds a month for the privilege, followed by years of uncertainty for business and everyone else,” insisted the PM.

In contrast, Mr Johnson made a brief reference to a notable absentee at conference: Ruth Davidson, the former Scottish Conservative leader, who, it is thought, resigned her role, in part, because of the pro-Brexit leader in No 10.

“I say to Ruth Davidson…thank you for everything you did for the cause of Conservatism and Unionism in Scotland and Ruth we will honour your legacy too,” he said.

Mr Johnson expressed exasperation at the parliamentary block on Brexit, saying despite Britain’s greatness there was one part of the country’s democratic system that was “on the blink,” likening the situation to a “world-class athlete with a pebble in our shoe”.

And he had a dig at John Bercow with a reference to the TV show “I’m a Celebrity” by suggesting there was one consolation to Parliament being voted out of the jungle, which was watching the Commons Speaker “being forced to eat a kangaroo testicle”.

After a shorter than usual leader’s speech at just 40 minutes, Mr Johnson left the auditorium to the chants of “Boris! Boris!” kissing and hugging his partner Carrie Symmonds as the arc lights of the TV cameras followed him to the conference hall exit.