UK PM Johnson repeats pledge to ditch Irish backstop

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Wednesday he would continue to insist that the so-called backstop - a clause relating to the Irish border - is removed from any exit deal he agrees with the European Union. "The backstop is going to be removed I very much hope, I insist, because that's the only way to get a deal," Johnson said during a broadcast on Facebook.

"The crucial thing to understand that we will not accept ... a Northern Ireland-only backstop, that simply doesn't work for the UK. We've got to come out whole and entire and solve the problems of the Northern Irish border and I am absolutely certain that we can do that." He also repeated his promise to leave the EU on Oct. 31, with or without an exit deal.

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