Hammond: I’m no enemy of Brexit

PHILIP Hammond hit back at Boris Johnson last night, declaring he was not ‘the enemy of Brexit’.

Delivering his annual Mansion House speech, the Chancellor denied claims from Eurosceptic ministers that he is trying to block Brexit.

He acknowledged that he was trying to maintain existing trade patterns with the EU, adding: ‘As we leave the EU we need to forge a new relationship with European neighbours that protects those patterns of trade.

‘That does not make the Treasury, on my watch, “the enemy of Brexit”; rather, it makes it the champion of prosperity for the British people outside the EU.’ Mr Hammond’s remarks are a direct riposte to the Foreign Secretary who accused him of spearheading Whitehall efforts to frustrate an EU clean break.

Speaking at a private dinner for Tory donors, Mr Johnson was recorded saying there was now a high chance that Mrs May would cross her own Brexit red lines and leave the UK ‘locked in orbit around the EU in the customs union and to a large extent still in the single market.’

Mr Johnson said the outcome was being pushed by the Treasury, which was ‘basically the heart of Remain.’

Mr Hammond also used his speech to step up warnings to Brussels that the EU risks damaging European economies if it tries to use Brexit to damage the City. He said the scale of London’s financial services sector meant it would remain a global force – and suggested the EU would benefit by co-operating.

The Chancellor said Brexit would mean a ‘period of transition’ for the economy. But he said the UK had confounded sceptics who believe the country’s history would ‘end in decline’ after the Second World war and could do so again.