No breakthrough in Brexit talks as Johnson dodges reporters

LUXEMBOURG: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson failed to convince EU leaders on Monday he has a serious plan for a Brexit deal, then ducked out of a planned news conference under a chorus of abuse from protesters.

Before setting off for talks in Luxembourg, Johnson had compared himself to comic book giant Hulk, but when anti-Brexit protesters gathered he left Prime Minister Xavier Bettel to field questions solo. A visibly angry Bettel pointed in bitter amusement at the empty podium in front of the British flag beside him as he warned that Britain had failed to come up with any credible way to revive the Brexit withdrawal deal, telling the absent Johnson it was time to "stop speaking and act".

"For me I have just one withdrawal agreement on the table and it´s the one from last year," Bettel said. "There are no changes, there are no concrete proposals for the moment on the table and I won´t give an agreement to ideas."

After the brief talks with Johnson, Bettel was due to head to Paris for talks with France´s President Emmanuel Macron, and he warned EU leaders will not postpone Brexit beyond October 31 if Britain does not come up with written suggestions soon.

"An extension is only an option it if serves a purpose," he warned. For his part, once he was safely clear of the small crowd of British residents of Luxembourg who had gathered outside Bettel´s office for the noisy protest, Johnson made brief remarks to British broadcasters.

"There was clearly going to be a lot of noise... and I think our points might have been drowned out," he protested, insisting he will never seek to postpone Brexit anyway and that he had made progress in agreeing to further talks with EU leader Jean-Claude Juncker and negotiator Michel Barnier.

But Juncker, who had held a working lunch with Johnson, was downbeat. The president of the European Commission said that once again the UK had failed to come up with a viable alternative to the so-called Irish "backstop" border arrangement.