Sajid Javid made the comments speaking to Andrew Marr on Sunday.
UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid has said that "Ireland is the tail that wags the dog", with regards to the importance the nation holds in Brexit negotiations.
Javid insisted that it was possible to get a different deal and a different arrangement over the "Northern Irish backstop", in spite of contradictory statements from politicians in Ireland and the European Union.
Javid, who is now in the running to take charge of the Tory Party, said: "What I would do is focus on the one Brexit deal that has already got through Parliament, and that was the Withdrawal Agreement with the change to the backstop.
"It's the only thing that's got through Parliament... I would try and renegotiate the backstop. And what I would do in doing that, is focus on Ireland.
"I think Ireland is the absolute key to all of this. You could sort of say it's the tail that wags the dog on this, and we need to make sure that we can do more to build that goodwill with Ireland, to give them more confidence."
You can watch Javid's interview in full here.
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