Irish backstop has to change or go, says Hunt
Jeremy Hunt on Tuesday told an audience of Conservative Party members in Belfast that the Northern Irish backstop "has to change or has to go".
As Brexit approaches, Hunt said he favoured an alternative "technology led solution" to the Irish border issue, arguing that the current proposed backstop arrangement would trap the UK into following EU customs tariffs until the Brussels gives permission to leave the customs union.
"I don’t believe it needs new technology, I think we can do it with the technology we have," said Hunt.
The backstop is a position of last resort to avoid disruptive new checks or controls on the Irish border after Brexit if no trade deal is established.
The former health secretary had previously hinted at renegotiating the backstop aspect of Theresa May's old Brexit deal with EU leaders, stating that some heads of state had told him privately that they could be willing to make changes if the UK brings new ideas to the table.
The Foreign Secretary was followed on stage at the hustings event by his leadership rival Boris Johnson, who has already been vocal in his distaste for the backstop and was no less critical at today's event.
Johnson said the backstop "represents the incoherence at the heart of the strategy we’ve been pursuing", stating that he wants to solve the Irish border issue as part of future trade negotiations with the European Union that may come after the UK has left the bloc.
The candidates will go head-to-head in an ITV debate on 9 July and at an event hosted by the Sun newspaper and talkRADIO on 15 July, while leadership ballot papers are being sent to the Conservative Party's 160,000 members on Friday.