Jeremy Hunt has signalled he could support new legislation to toughen up the law on abortion.
In comments which will reignite criticism over his support for halving the legal abortion limit to 12 weeks, the Tory leadership candidate refused to rule out supporting a backbench MP’s attempt to change the law.
He insisted that if he won the leadership and became prime minister he would not look to change the law as a matter of government policy.
But asked if he could support an individual private member’s bill, which are brought forward by MPs on backbench time in the Commons, Hunt said it would be “a matter of conscience”.
In an interview with BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg, Hunt also suggested his rival and frontrunner Boris Johnson was not “trustworthy” enough to renegotiate the Brexit deal and defended comments comparing the EU to the Soviet Union.
But his comments on abortion law, having previously said he was in favour of reducing the legal time limit from 24 to 12 weeks, risk sparking a fresh backlash.
Kuenssberg asked him: “If an MP put forward legislation to cut the time limit on abortion would you vote to do that?”
Hunt replied: “Well, how I voted before is a matter of public record.
“As you say I’ve be very clear that as prime minister I wouldn’t seek to change the law. I didn’t as health secretary either.
“How I vote in any future private member’s bill would be a matter of conscience and I would have to see what that bill is before I make that decision.”
He went on: “I’d have to look at what that bill was but I think for people watching this programme, what they want to know is as PM I recognise this is a free vote matter and I wouldn’t seek to change the law.”
Meanwhile, Hunt said the personality of the next prime minister would be crucial to the outcome of negotiations with Brussels to gain a new Brexit deal.
“Both Boris and I want to change that deal, and the judgment is, who is the person we trust as PM to go to Brussels and bring back that deal?,” he said.
“It’s about the personality of our PM. If you choose someone where there’s no trust, there’s going to be no negotiation, no deal. And quite possibly a general election, which could mean we have no Brexit either.”
Hunt dismissed Johnson commitment to deliver Brexit by the end of October 31 as a “fake” deadline.
“I think that 31st of October come hell or high water is a fake deadline, because it’s more likely to trip us into a general election before we’ve delivered Brexit, and that would hand the keys to Jeremy Corbyn and then we’d have no Brexit at all,” he said.
But he committed to leaving with no deal on that date if it appeared the EU was not willing to move on a deal.
The foreign secretary also defended controversial comments at last year’s Tory party conference in which he compared the EU to the Soviet Union, likening it to a “prison”.
European politicians, particularly from ‘eastern bloc’ former Soviet-occupied states, reacted last autumn with fury.
But Hunt said: “I am not afraid to speak uncomfortable truths to our partners in the EU.
“The point I made in that speech was it was totally inappropriate for an organisation that was set up to defend freedom to make it impossible for a member to leave. I will say tough things when I need to say tough things. But I’ll also preserve the relationship.”
The former health secretary also said he envisaged a social care system in which people would automatically save for costs in later life, mirroring automatic pension enrollment.
“I’d do a deal. If you’re prepared to save responsibly during your life then we will cut those costs. “We need to be a country which rewards people who do the right thing,” he said.
Hunt also revealed he has wanted to be prime minister since he was 22, but refused to reveal the moment he decided he wanted the top job.
“I won’t say that,” he said. “I think if I say that that’s really going to put people off.
“But I think thirty years is a very very long time and this is Britain but look, I would love to do this job, I think I can make a difference.”