BORIS Johnson was last night on the brink of breaking a 30-day deadline set by Angela Merkel to come up with an alternative solution to replace the Irish backstop in a bid to resolve the Brexit impasse.

The German Chancellor issued the timetable to the Prime Minister when they met in Berlin on August 21.

“You have set a very blistering timetable of 30 days – if I understood you correctly, I am more than happy with that,” the Prime Minister told her.

But with the 30-day deadline passing last night, no alternative proposals had been handed over.

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Rather, a fresh war of words between UK ministers and the EU broke out with the former insisting they will not be rushed into revealing their backstop plans.

A spokesman for the Government said yesterday they would not be forced to show their hand by “an artificial deadline” put forward by Brussels.

The comment came after a week of mounting frustration in the EU over the failure of the UK Government to supply alternative backstop plans.

Antti Rinne, the Prime Minister of Finland, yesterday appeared to set a new deadline saying the UK only had 11 days to bring forward its proposals for maintaining an open border in Ireland after Brexit or else the chances of agreeing a new deal were “over”.

Speaking after holding talks with French President Emmanuel Macron, he said: “We need to know what the UK is proposing. The UK should make its possible own proposals very soon if they would like them to be discussed.

“We both agreed that it is now time for Boris Johnson to produce his own proposals in writing – if they exist. If no proposals are received by the end of September, then it’s over.”

The UK Government spokesman said they had submitted “non-papers” to the EU setting out ideas for replacing the backstop.

The spokesman said: “We have been having detailed discussions with the Commission’s Taskforce 50 in recent weeks. We have now shared in written form a series of confidential technical non-papers which reflect the ideas the UK has been putting forward.

“We will table formal written solutions when we are ready, not according to an artificial deadline, and when the EU is clear that it will engage constructively on them as a replacement for the backstop.”

The row comes after Johnson was told to stop “pretending to negotiate” by Michel Barnier, the EU’s top Brexit negotiator, when he spoke during a debate in the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Wednesday. Two days earlier Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Xavier Bettel said it was time for Johnson to “stop speaking, but act” following talks.

Top EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier had a clear message for the UK Prime Minister

Responding to the stalemate, Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay claimed Johnson had shown he was willing to be “creative and flexible”, and suggested it was now the EU’s turn to shift its stance.

Speaking to business leaders in Spain, he said: “A rigid approach now at this point is no way to progress a deal and the responsibility sits with both sides to find a solution.

“We are committed to carving out a landing zone and we stand ready to share relevant texts. But it must be in the spirit of negotiation with flexibility and with a negotiating partner that itself is willing to compromise.”

Barclay will meet Barnier today.

Meanwhile, the Irish deputy prime minister poured cold water on reports the UK Government is getting close to a deal with EU negotiators.

“There’s still a big gap between what the British Government has been suggesting that they’re looking for and what Ireland and the EU need in terms of getting a deal, and in order to close that gap we need to get credible proposals from the British Government which we simply haven’t received yet,” Simon Coveney said.

“Until we get proposals in writing, then I think there isn’t a lot of credibility to what’s being said, because this is a legal, detailed negotiation that requires legal text and solutions to very complex problems,” he added.

European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker told Johnson that a deal is both “desirable and still possible”. He spoke to the Prime Minister by phone on Wednesday and said their meeting on Monday was “friendly, constructive and, in part, positive”.

Last night the European Commission said it had received “documents” from the UK on its Brexit proposals.

A spokeswoman said: “With regards to written proposals, I can confirm that we have received documents from the UK and, on this basis, we will have technical discussions today and tomorrow on some aspects of customs, manufactured goods and sanitary and phytosanitary rules.”