Tory leadership hopeful Jeremy Hunt has repeated his wish to see the abortion limit halved from 24 weeks to 12 weeks.

He faced a backlash on social media after saying he was still in favour of reducing the limit.

‘These are matters of conscience, yes, my view hasn’t changed on that,’ he told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday.

‘I respect the fact other people have very different views and that’s why these matters are matters for free votes in the House of Commons.’

On whether he would seek to change the policy if he was PM, Mr Hunt said ‘it won’t be Government policy to change the law’ or to have a vote on it.

His comments were described as ‘alarming’ by Lib Dem MP Christine Jardine.

‘It is incredibly alarming to see the former health secretary and a candidate in the race to be the next prime minister hold such a view,’ she said.

‘Rather than attacking the women’s rights we already have in some parts of the UK, the Tories should be fighting for them to be equal in Northern Ireland.

‘So far the Tory leadership race has shown how out of touch many of those putting themselves forward are. The Liberal Democrats demand better for the UK and think that women across the UK, especially in Northern Ireland, deserve better.’

Labour MP Jess Philips added: ‘Did this one say he was a feminist, it’s hard to keep up with who’s on drugs and who pretends to care about women.

‘Jeremy Hunt how about we base this stuff on evidence and science and keep what you think is best based on no experience out of this.’

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