Sajid Javid, a candidate to be Britain’s next prime minister, said on Sunday he would offer to cover the cost of finding a post-Brexit border solution with Ireland - something he said would unlock fresh negotiations with the European Union.

“The key is Ireland,” he told Sky News. “I would offer to pay for the new alternative arrangements on the border, it would be in the hundreds of million. I would propose to do that because economically it’s right and morally it’s right.”

Javid, one of 11 candidates to replace Theresa May as prime minister, also said he would slow the pace of Britain’s national debt reduction to free up cash that would be used to invest in education.