UK PM candidates say time limit would not make N.Irish backstop acceptable

The two candidates vying to be Britain's next prime minister both said on Monday that they would not be willing to accept the so-called Northern Irish backstop element of Theresa May's Brexit deal, even if a time limit was set. Opposition to the backstop, designed to prevent the return of a hard border in Ireland in the event of a no-deal exit, was one of the key reasons May's deal was rejected three times by parliament.

Asked during a leadership debate whether the backstop, which would in effect have kept Northern Ireland and the rest of Britain in a customs union with the EU, would be acceptable if a time limit could be agreed, both frontrunner Boris Johnson and foreign minister Jeremy Hunt said it would not.

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