Former UK finance chief says Brexiteer wrecking tactics could sabotage new EU deal

Britain’s former finance minister Philip Hammond said he was confident MPs could block attempts to take the UK out of the European Union without a deal in place on October 31.

He said there would be a constitutional crisis if the government sought to push through a no-deal Brexit against the will of Parliament, which would at a stroke cut trade and political ties with the bloc’s remaining 27 members.

Mr Hammond, who quit his position hours before Boris Johnson became prime minister, is a prominent figure in the bid to stop the new leader’s “do or die” pledge to leave the EU.

He aimed his fire at unelected officials surrounding Mr Johnson who, he claimed, were driving a strategy that would scupper any potential new deal with the EU. Mr Johnson has claimed he is seeking a deal with the EU to allay business leaders’ fears.

But Mr Hammond said calls from the leadership to fundamentally change the agreement struck by the bloc with Mr Johnson’s predecessor, Theresa May, were “wrecking tactics” aimed at undermining any prospect of a new one.

In his first comments since quitting his job last month, Mr Hammond said leaving without a deal would “be a betrayal” of what voters believed would happen after the 2016 referendum.

“Boris Johnson has told me privately, and he’s told the country publicly, that he is determined to get a deal, and confident that he can get one,” Mr Hammond told the BBC. “But I fear there are other people around him whose agenda is different. A no-deal exit will cause significant harm to the UK economy and, potentially, irreparable damage to the union of the United Kingdom. People need to know the facts.”

Mr Hammond said MPs could still prevent Britain leaving the EU without a deal.

His views put him at odds with the prime minister’s special adviser Dominic Cummings, who said this month that it was too late to stop a no-deal Brexit.

House of Commons Speaker John Bercow said he would refuse to let Mr Johnson suspend Parliament to push through Brexit, The Telegraph reported.

Mr Bercow said he believed the Commons “must have its way” and he would fight attempts to circumvent Parliament “with every bone in my body”.

On Tuesday, The Sun reported that Mr Hammond and 20 other senior Conservative MPs wrote to the prime minister, accusing him of having ruined any chance of negotiating a new deal with the EU.