Hammond faces more heat over Brexit stance
Britain’s finance minister Philip Hammond on Sunday faced mounting questions over his future weeks ahead of a budget announcement, finding himself at the centre of an increasingly fraught debate over Britain’s departure from the EU.
The EU last week declared a “disturbing deadlock” in talks with Prime Minister Theresa May’s government on arrangements to leave the bloc, raising the chances of Britain quitting without a negotiated deal and increasing criticism of the government’s handling of Brexit.
On Sunday, an unnamed source from the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) said May had to warn Hammond he faced the sack unless he changed his approach to Brexit, the Sunday Telegraph reported. The DUP is a small Northern Irish political party keeping May’s minority government in power.
“We are very concerned about Philip Hammond’s behaviour,” the senior parliamentary DUP source said.
“It is evident to us that he is winding people up and causing unnecessary division within the Conservative Party at a crucial time in the Brexit negotiations.”
Hammond, who is seen by many as May’s most pro-EU minister, has become a focal point of criticism for Brexiteers, who said he was overly pessimistic about the effects of leaving the bloc and is damaging Britain’s negotiating stance.
Last week, Hammond warned that Brexit was causing a “cloud of uncertainty” over the British economy that needed to be cleared as quickly as possible. He has previously angered Eurosceptics by calling for a lengthy transition out of the EU, during which there will be little change to rules on issues such as immigration.
In a botched attempt on Friday to play down the party’s divisions, Hammond described the EU as the “enemy” in negotiations. The minister later said that he regretted his choice of words.