FILE PHOTO: A channel in Carlingford Lough is seen in Northern Ireland while the sun sets behind hills in Ireland marking the exact border point between the Republic of Ireland and Ireland in the border town of Warrenpoint, Northern Ireland, January 29, 2018. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will bring forward new proposals to break an impasse in Brexit negotiations over the Irish border very soon, senior British minister David Lidington said on Wednesday.

“We obviously will be bringing forward more detailed proposals, alternative proposals to those of Michel Barnier, on the so-called backstop very soon,” Lidington, UK PM Theresa May’s de facto deputy, told BBC radio.

“We’re not going to countenance the splitting off of Northern Ireland from the rest of the United Kingdom.”