Sounds promising…
Brexit Minister Stephen Barclay said that the UK is exploring alternatives to the Irish backstop following the House of Commons vote on Tuesday which instructed Theresa May to go back to the negotiating table with the European Union.
MPs voted that they would accept May’s Brexit deal if she could secure changes to the Northern Ireland backstop.
The backstop is a written guarantee that there will be no hard border between the north and south of Ireland.
In an interview with Radio 4’s Today programme, Barclay failed on several occasions to give a definitive answer on what exactly the alternatives to the backstop are.
Barclay stated that the UK would be “exploring” issues such as a time limit, new technology and other exit clauses.
“There are a number of options, there are issues in terms of having time limits, issues in terms of exit clauses, issues in terms of technology and this will be the nature of the negotiation with the European Union in the coming days,” Barclay said.
At one stage presenter Nick Robinson said: “Let me ask you again, Mr Barclay; what is the alternative to the backstop?” To which Barclay replied: “That’s what we are exploring in terms of the use of technology, looking at things like the time limit.”
European Council president Donald Tusk ruled out any renegotiation on Tuesday night while Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney said that Brexit negotiators had spent two years looking for an alternative to the backstop and not found a viable option.
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