EU 'reasonably positive' over Brexit backstop - Hunt

Jeremy Hunt has said there were ‘reasonably positive’ signals coming from Europe regarding possible changes to Theresa May’s Brexit deal.

The foreign secretary, who is visiting European capitals ahead of the next meaningful vote on the prime minister’s Withdrawal Agreement, conceded there was much work ahead.

But he told BBC radio programme: “Compared to where we were a month ago, the situation has been transformed in a positive direction. The signals we are getting are reasonably positive. I don’t want to overstate them because I still think there’s a lot of work to do, but I think they do understand that we are being sincere.

“I think [the EU is] beginning to realise that we can get a majority in Parliament because they are seeing the signals coming from the people who voted against the deal before who are saying, crucially, that they are prepared to be reasonable about how we get to that position that we can’t legally be trapped in the backstop.”

The Withdrawal Agreement, which was agreed between May and Brussels late in 2018, has so far failed to win the backing of Parliament. Of most concern to MPs is the so-called backstop arrangement to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland.

The government is trying to convince Brussels that the deal has to be amended if it is to get through Parliament. If it does not, May has said she will allow MPs to vote on whether they support a no-deal Brexit and, if not, on whether they want a short extension to Article 50.

Attorney general Geoffrey Cox and Brexit secretary Stephen Barclay are currently in Brussels discussing the backstop.