Boris Johnson: EU 'a bit negative' over backstop demands

Boris Johnson says the EU has been "a bit negative" over his demand that the Irish border backstop plan should be scrapped.

The prime minister said the reaction from European Council President Donald Tusk to his suggestion “wasn’t redolent of a sense of optimism”.

But he added: “I think there is a real sense now that something needs to be done with this backstop. We can’t get it through Parliament as it is."