Where all 10 Tory leadership candidates stand on Brexit, in their own words

From locking MPs in parliament to paying for border technology that hasn’t been invented, a number of solutions have been touted by the people vying to be PM

The hopefuls will be whittled down over the next few weeks (PA)

It is the defining issue of the age and is, unsurprisingly, dominating the Conservative leadership race.

But where exactly do the 10 candidates stand on Brexit?

This is how each of them would go about leaving the EU – in their own words…

Michael Gove

“The critical thing to do is to recognise, if we’re not 100 per cent out by midnight on 31 October, then we risk making that arbitrary deadline the determinant of what a good deal is. If we’re so close to the wire with what I believe is a better deal, it would be right to take those extra few days or weeks in order to land it and to make sure that we’re out.”

But he added: “If, finally, it comes to a decision between no deal and no Brexit, I will choose no deal. It’s a democratic imperative that we must leave the EU before the next general election.”

Matt Hancock

“My Brexit delivery plan [which includes a free trade agreement and a time limit on the backstop] is the only credible plan to actually deliver Brexit by 31 October in a way that the House of Commons and the European Union can both accept. This is just the reality of the situation. Some have said stick with the current deal, but that’s been shown to fail. Others say let’s just run at no deal, but the brutal truth is we know that won’t get through the House of Commons.”

Mark Harper

“The bit where I will make myself perhaps not popular with colleagues is when I say it is not going to be possible to leave on 31 October. I would love to [but] I’m afraid it is not credible to say you can renegotiate the withdrawal agreement and get it through both houses of parliament by 31 October … I think if we approach our European partners in a spirit of openness and we bust a gut to get a deal and they are simply not prepared to budge, I think in those circumstances and only those circumstances, there will be a majority in the House of Commons to leave without a deal.”

Jeremy Hunt

“Get this wrong and the EU could block a better deal, and parliament could block no deal. We could be stuck in paralysis ... [but] I’ve got the plan to deal with Brexit. I believe as foreign secretary there is a deal to be done. If we approach this the right way with the right negotiating skills, we can get a deal even before the end of October. Lots of people say it will be impossible but ... I like to prove people wrong.”

Sajid Javid

“As prime minister I would have a clear position. We should leave on 31 October. And if we cannot get a deal we should, with great regret, leave without one, having done everything we can to minimise disruption.”

But he added separately: “I will change the dynamic [of negotiations] by offering the money to pay for the [Irish] border [technology]. It is justified that we do that because, economically, if that unlocks a deal we will have a mini economic boom in this country that will pay for that.”

Boris Johnson

“After three years and two missed deadlines, we must leave the EU on 31 October. We simply will not get a result if we give the slightest hint that we want to go on kicking the can down the road with yet more delay. Delay means defeat. Delay means Corbyn. Kick the can and we kick the bucket. With every week and month that goes by in which we fail to deliver on our promise I am afraid we will further alienate not just our natural supporters but anyone who believes that politicians should deliver on their promises.”

Andrea Leadsom

“Once you’ve set that out to your EU friends and neighbours, that we are actually leaving the EU [by 31 October] and, very clearly it’s in their interest that we do so because they have an awful lot on their plate … once you have that in place, you then start to look at it from the other end of the telescope. So instead of being a perfectionist about a withdrawal agreement, you then start to look at, well, OK, they’re leaving by the end of October, what can we do that works well for us and for them that we’ve already negotiated and agreed previously?”

Esther McVey

“We won’t be asking for any more extensions. That’s part of the corrosive uncertainty that individuals and businesses in the country don’t want ... so we need to make sure that we are ready to leave on that date [31 October]. Now if the EU wants to come back to us, the door is open. If they want to have a better deal, that’s fine. We’ve always wanted a free trade agreement. But what we’ve got to do is not waste time. We have to make sure that we are ready to leave.”

Asked if she would take the unprecedented step of suspending parliament to force through no deal, she said: “We would use all the tools at our disposal.”

Dominic Raab

“I would go back with the deal I’ve suggested, overhauling the backstop based on Malthouse [a compromise to avoid customs checks on the Irish border], the only thing that passed the House of Commons, but I would be crystal clear: we’re leaving at the end of October, preferably with that change and a deal but, if not, in any event. That’s the only way we will focus the EU’s minds. That’s the only way you give yourself the best shot of getting a deal. And if the other candidates are not sticking to that kind of resolute approach, I’m afraid they’d only weaken our chances.”

Rory Stewart

“I will lock Tory MPs up all through their summer recess, for six or seven hours a day with mediators in the room talking through these issues. There is a majority in parliament against no deal – we know that. There is a majority in parliament against a second referendum – we know that. So we can get to a deal.”

Separately, he emphasised his hostility to crashing out of the bloc, adding: “My opposition to no deal is unwavering – the best and securest way to take no deal off the table is to vote for me to be our next prime minister.”