Now Hammond says no delays over leaving

PHILIP Hammond attempted to defuse a growing backlash over his attempts to dilute Brexit last night – by accepting it cannot be ‘postponed or delayed’.

The Chancellor has angered Cabinet ministers and Tory backbenchers over his pronouncements on a transitional deal and free movement.

In recent days he has appeared to rule out walking away from talks without a deal and told a French newspaper that the UK economy would remain ‘recognisably European’.

He also said ‘literally nobody’ wants a significant fall in EU immigration – a view not shared by Theresa May.

At a press conference in Brazil yesterday, Mr Hammond acknowledged there was still a ‘debate’ about the nature of a transitional deal but when asked about the Brexit timetable, he said: ‘No, it won’t be postponed or delayed.

‘There’s a discussion going on about how we then move from full membership of the European Union to a future relationship with the European Union.

‘That’s the process that we hope to begin this autumn – of discussion with our European Union partners about the future trading relationship with them.’