Johnson Brexit letter offers no alternatives to Irish backstop: EU

The EU on Tuesday gave a chilly response to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's letter demanding the scrapping of the Irish border backstop plan to achieve a Brexit deal, saying he had offered no workable alternative.

"The letter does not provide a legal operational solution to prevent the return of a hard border on the island of Ireland," European Commission spokeswoman Natasha Bertaud told reporters.

Johnson's letter to EU Council President Donald Tusk insisted Britain wanted a Brexit deal but said the backstop was "anti-democratic" and must be dropped.