Backstop could be ‘overwritten’ by tech, says Merkel

THE Irish backstop will be “overwritten” the moment a technological or other solution to keep it invisible and protect the EU’S single market was found, Angela Merkel said yesterday.

The German chancellor insisted that the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement, which includes the backstop, will not be renegotiated, even though it was rejected three times by MPS.

“The Withdrawal Agreement is the Withdrawal Agreement,” she said, “The moment a solution for the management of the border is found [...] that satisfies both questions then the backstop will be overwritten so to speak.”

Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt, the Tory leadership hopefuls, have both said the deal must be renegotiated and the backstop, which would put the UK in a bare bones customs union with the EU to prevent a hard Irish border, ditched.

Mrs Merkel suggested that Britain could negotiate a closer post-brexit relationship with the EU. A customs union could remove the need for border checks in Ireland after Brexit.

Brussels has repeatedly said it will renegotiate the non-binding political declaration on the future UK-EU relationship.