Daily Mail

Slippery Hammond refuses four times to give backing to May

- By Jack Doyle and Rachel Watson

PHILIP Hammond last night refused repeatedly to back Theresa May to lead the Conservati­ves into the next election.

Asked four times if he believed the Prime Minister should seek the highest office again, the Chancellor each time failed to give his full endorsemen­t.

He also refused to deny claims that he texted Boris Johnson at 4am in the hours following this year’s election to offer his support for a leadership bid in an attempt to keep his own job.

On a visit to Scotland yesterday, Mr Hammond said he would not discuss the ‘future leadership’ of the Conservati­ves, suggesting Mrs May was staying on only to lead the party through Brexit.

He dodged a series of questions about her leadership when asked who would be the ‘optimum person’ to take the Conservati­ves into the next election.

Instead of throwing his support behind Mrs May, he said he would not get involved and said the Prime Minister had ‘made it very clear she had a job to do’.

Mr Hammond then claimed to be ‘completely behind her’ in managing Brexit negotiatio­ns, but refused to answer when asked again if he believed she should continue as Tory leader until 2022 – the latest date for a national poll.

He instead suggested that Mrs May would remain as Prime Minister to deliver Brexit, saying this was the primary focus over the next couple of years.

Asked twice more if he believed Mrs May should stay on, and why he had so far refused to back her, Mr Hammond said: ‘Theresa May is clearly the best person to lead the Conservati­ve party, to lead the Government, through this very complex process of Brexit.

‘I’m not going to talk about future Conservati­ve leadership. I want to talk about the job in hand. She’s been very clear that Brexit is the job in hand, that is the job she considers she was elected to do and she’s going to get on with it.’

When asked if he expected another leader to be in place for the next election, he said: ‘These are not issues for today. We are focused entirely on delivering a Brexit that works for Britain.’

On Sunday it was reported that Mr Hammond sent Mr Johnson a text message on the night of this year’s election, offering his support when it looked like Mrs May could be forced from office. In return, he wanted to stay in the Treasury. Yesterday Mr Hammond would say only that there was an ‘awful lot of communicat­ion’ in the early hours of June 9.

He said: ‘Look, there was an awful lot of communicat­ion going during the early hours of that morning, texting, telephone calling between all sorts of colleagues. I don’t recognise some of the material that I have seen in the Sunday papers.

‘What I do know is that the most important conversati­on I had on that night was with Theresa May when she told me that she had decided to seek to form a government; she asked me to serve in it and I committed to do so and to back her.’

Relations between the Foreign Secretary and the Chancellor have hit new lows, amid rows over Brexit. Mr Hammond has argued for a longer transition period and a closer relationsh­ip with the EU after Brexit. Mr Johnson, who led the Leave campaign, wants a clean break.

On Monday it was reported that allies of the Chancellor have accused Mr Johnson of being ‘simple minded’ over Brexit.

Mr Hammond was in Scotland yesterday to meet with business leaders, before seeing Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson.

In Prague for talks with his Czech counterpar­t, Mr Johnson said Brexit could be comfortabl­y negotiated within two years. Brexit Secretary David Davis has also said transition should be no longer than two years.

 ??  ?? Tension: Theresa May and Philip Hammond in the Commons
Tension: Theresa May and Philip Hammond in the Commons

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Kingdom