Boris Johnson issues backstop Brexit ultimatum, EU rebuffs

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has issued an ultimatum to the European Union (EU) over what he has branded an "anti-democratic" Irish border backstop, which must be scrapped to negotiate a new deal before the October 31 Brexit deadline.

But the ultimatum was rejected by the EU as it restated its stand on the backstop being non-negotiable.

In a letter to European Council President Donald Tusk on Monday night, Johnson reiterated his "highest priority" was to achieve an agreement to avert a chaotic no-deal exit from the 28-nation economic bloc, but not with any kind of backstop designed to avert a post-Brexit hard border between EU member-country Ireland and British region Northern Ireland.

"The changes we seek relate primarily to the backstop. The problems with the backstop run much deeper than the simple political reality that it has three times been rejected by the House of Commons," writes the prime minister in his letter.

"The truth is that it is simply unviable it is anti-democratic and inconsistent with the sovereignty of the UK as a state," he notes.

Tusk took to Twitter on Tuesday to rebuff the claims, accusing the British prime minister of not proposing realistic alternatives to the backstop.

He said: "The backstop is an insurance to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland unless and until an alternative is found.

"Those against the backstop and not proposing realistic alternatives in fact support reestablishing a border. Even if they do not admit it."